The Rivers State Government has started desilting drainages in Port Harcourt, the state capital, beginning from the Mile 1 axis of Ikwerre Road in Port Harcourt Local Government Area of the state.
Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Works, Dr Austin Ezekiel-Hart, on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, led a team of the ministry’s staff on an inspection visit to the site of the drainage desilting works along the Mile 1 axis of Ikwerre Road in Port Harcourt.
A statement by the Head, Press Unit of the Ministry, Ominini Wokoma, disclosed that Dr Ezekiel-Hart, who was conducted round the drainage desilting points by the contractor handling the project, expressed satisfaction with the level of work being done by the contracting firm, urging it to expedite action in completing the job on schedule.
Chief Engineer of the contracting firm, Friday Ugaba, told newsmen that the challenge of flooding along the road was a result of blockages of the drainage by wastes generated by traders and households along the area.
Ugaba lamented that drainages in the area have not been desilted for over 12 years, adding that such underground drains should be regularly evacuated at least every three months.
According to him, the company plans to create a subsidiary drain that will collect water from the surrounding environment into the major point leading to the Ntawoba River, assuring that by the time the desilting of the main drainage and the construction of the subsidiary channels are completed in a month’s time, there will be no more flooding along the area.
“We are also working on drainages in other sections of Ikwerre Road from Echue Junction to Ikoku area. We are desilting the entire area; in between 3 weeks to one month, we would have achieved something reasonable,” he said.
The President General of Market Unions in Rivers State, Eddy Chinedu; the Vice Chairman of Mile 1 Market Association, Jude Onuoha; and the Yoruba Woman Leader in the Market, Amirat Gambari, who joined in the inspections, commended the State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara, for embarking on the project, noting that it brings relief to traders and other users of the road.
Chinedu, however, attributed the blockage of the drainages in the area to the deluge of waste usually generated and emptied into the drain by street traders in the area and appealed to Gov. Fubara to reopen the newly built Mile 1 Market complex to accommodate street traders in the area.