The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has assured that construction work would resume next week on the 3.65kilometre Borokiri-Okrika road to link the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt to Okrika communities and others in Eleme, Tai, Gokana, Khana, Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas in the eastern flank of the state.

Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, made the disclosure at the commission's Headquarters in Port Harcourt during his first official media chat. 

The MD said that the new interventionist agency’s leadership was looking at legacy projects to quickly complete and commission.

In his statement, he said, “One of these projects is the construction of the 3.65-kilometre Okrika-Borokiri Road with three bridges connecting Kolabi, Abotoru and Okpoka creeks to Port Harcourt,” adding that the link road was a very significant project for the people of the state.

He explained that talks between the NDDC and contractors for the project have been very fruitful, and assured that construction work would resume within a week.

The commission noted that another big ticket project under the Converting Liabilities To Assets Initiative would be the construction of dams to check perennial flooding in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states as a pilot scheme.

The MD said that the recent comments on the commission’s activities by former Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, serves as a push for positive change in driving the development process in the Niger Delta region.

He commended the former governor for the milestones he achieved in urban centre modernization, stating that his remarks about the NDDC will spur the commission to positively change the narrative about the interventionist agency.

 “We will not join issues with former Governor Nyesom Wike. He has done well for the people of Rivers State, especially in the area of urban modernisation. Rather, we are spurred by his comments to change the narrative about the NDDC positively.”

Recall that the immediate past Governor of Rivers State challenged the NDDC to commence the project and link it to the ring road during the flag-off of the Port Harcourt ring road on Monday.