Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo has ordered contractors handling various road construction in the State, to quicken the pace of work maximizing the window the dry season presents.

The Governor gave the marching order on Sunday, 14 December during an unscheduled on-the-spot inspection of ongoing road construction in Benin-City, the State Capital.

Some of the roads inspected include the Ogheghe Road and Old Sapele Road in the Capital City.

This was contained in a press statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Patrick Ebojele and circulated amongst journalists.

Ebojele quoted the Governor to have said: it was important for him to personally assess the progress of the road construction project, as the dry season presents a limited opportunity for speedy delivery.

“I have not been around here for some time, so coming to look at this work and see what is going on is important.

“We are experiencing the dry season now. Apart from this time, there is no more time, we need to take advantage of the season so the speed has to be doubled.”

The Governor though expressed satisfaction with the quality of work done; but stressed the importance for the increase of the pace to meet the timeline given.

“Now that I am here, I have seen the extent of work they are doing, and they are doing well.

“But I still need them to buckle up and be faster with the pace of work I am seeing now. We just have about five months of dry season,” he said.

On meeting the work specification, he explained; “The reason I snapped those pictures in one of the sections of the road, is to see if what is on the ground matches the specification I have in my record.”

He recalled that the 4.1-kilometre Ogheghe Old Sapele road project was initiated following concerns raised by residents about erosion and safety.

“When we came here last time, people thought it would never be possible. The reason we are doing this road is because we heard that a child died on this street arising from flooding and erosion menace affecting the community.

“The child was washed away by erosion from this site and that was the essence of our visit then,” Governor Okpebholo recalled.