Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, says one side of the six-lane Ossa Road, Okpara Square to Tower, currently under construction will be ready for use by Christmas, AbnTV reports.

Governor Otti stated this on Thursday while inspecting the ongoing construction works on the 3.5km carriage, a major gateway into Umuahia, capital of Abia State.

“I have been assured that at least one side would be ready for commuters to use during this Christmas,” the Governor was quoted in a statement by his chief press secretary, Kazie Uko as saying.

He assured that with the dry season setting in, work will progress steadily on daily basis to ensure that the work is delivered within the time frame.

Governor Otti explained that he was motivated to begin the expansion of the road to six lanes from the initial four lanes due to the congestions usually experienced on the road, especially during festive seasons.

“If you are familiar with this road, every festive season people get stuck. Expanding the road to six lanes would help traffic. We know what our people wanted. The essence of government is to deliver on what the people want and people are happy because we are actually speaking to their needs and that’s what government is about.

“On a daily basis we have more and more people, who want to move out of Umuahia and Aba to bring their businesses back, so we are forward thinking and forward looking. We are already planning for them as they relocate,” he said, adding that many good things and development plans are in the offing for Abians.

The Governor, despite all the democratic dividends he had delivered in a short space of six months, said it was still early days. According to him, government will be touching on different aspects of the people’s needs.

“That’s why we are here, to ensure that the welfare and security of our people are prioritised,” he said.

Governor Otti sympathised with all those who have to suffer inconveniences, as a result of the ongoing construction, in the cause of using that road, saying, “To those who have been inconvenienced by the restrictions of traffic on this road, we want to apologise to them and assure them it wouldn’t be too long before they begin to enjoy free flow of traffic.”

On the issue of compensation, the Governor said a lot of people’s houses were affected and that government had already paid compensations to them.

“I understand there are a few more houses that got enumerated after the first compensations have been paid, we are looking at that to ensure that we also pay compensations before we bring down those houses,” promised.