By Sunny A Ijomah
The President-General of Onitsha North and South Local Government Areas of Anambra State, Sir Chike Ekweogu, says Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of the state, is in dire need of roads and more primary healthcare facilities with adequate drug supplies to meet the medical needs of locals in the area.
Sir Ekweogu, who stated this while granting an interview to our correspondent in Onitsha, decried erosion problems and other environmental issues that Onitsha is suffering from, especially in Onitsha North, where he said, erosion had had a catastrophic impact on Obeleagu by Nkisi Road.
The PG said the roads in Onitsha were terrible and required urgent interventions to facilitate business activities while plans on flood control should be intensified to mitigate environmental problems arising from uncontrolled flooding.
According to PG Ekweogu, there was need for more Primary Healthcare Centres in the commercial city of Onitsha that would be well serviced, as well as adequate medicine supplied in the facilities to meet the needs of the local people, who, he said, earnestly sought the services of the Primary Healthcare Centres.
Although Sir Ekweogu pointed out that Onitsha was not lacking in government presence as social amenities were evenly distributed in the commercial city, he noted that the government of Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo was attacking the environment head-on as evident in the removal of waste from the nooks and crannies of Onitsha North and South Council Areas.
The PG said that things were being done to clear the gutters to allow free flow of water into River Niger to control flood.
He noted also that the blockage of the drainage channels were causative factors for flooding and that the leadership of the town union was in touch with the newly appointed TC Chairmen of Onitsha North and South to ensure that anybody found throwing waste into the gutters and houses whose frontage were not properly cleared would be penalised in accordance with the environmental laws of the land.