Acting
President, Yemi Osibanjo, has given the contractor handling construction of a
temporary bridge at Tatabu village, in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger
State,
two weeks to finish the work, and ease commuters’ hardship.
The Tatabu
bridge, which was washed away two months ago, by downpour, is one the bridges
which links the North with the South West, along the ever-busy
Mokwa-Jebba-Ilorin Highway.
Over 2,000
trailers, tankers and other smaller trucks are currently stranded there, with
perishable goods worth hundreds of thousand of naira.
Osibanjo,
accompanied by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, yesterday, visited the site of the
collapsed bridge for on-the-spot-assessment where he directed the contractor to
ensure completion of the temporary bridge within two weeks.
The acting
president, who was shocked at the extent of damage to both the bridge and the
rail line, pointed out that the Federal Government will ensure that a permanent
solution is found to frequent collapse of bridges along the highway which he described as a “very
important route” to the country.
“This is an
important route and we can assure you all that the temporary road would be done
as fast as possible. We have gotten assurances from the contractor handling the
road. The road will be made passable in a fortnight. By then, I believe that
there will be better movement of goods and vehicles.
“Government
will surely find a permanent solution to the frequent collapse of bridges along
this very important highway which links the north and south west of the
country.
Osibanjo
disclosed that the contractor has been adequately mobilised, to ensure the
speedy completion of the temporary bridge, and stressed that “although there
are challenges in moving materials from Jebba to the site due to the long queue
of trailers, I can assure you that everyone is committed to making sure that
the road is made passable as quickly as possible.”
He also said
that the federal government is working towards reviving the rail transportation
system, as an alternative to reducing pressure on the roads.
“The roads
are not strong enough to take 70 to 80 tonnes of loads; that is why we are
working hard to make sure the rail network takes off as soon as possible.”
He lamented
that most of the roads across the country are taking more loads than they could
carry which is causing the collapse of several roads and bridges across the
country.
“This is a
huge nation with several road network and we have to understand that most of
the roads are taking much heavy traffic and tonnage than they can take. This
road for instance is suppose to take 35 tonnes but it is taking 70 tonnes
vehicles.”
Osinbajo
appealed to motorists to exercise patience and cooperate with the contractors
to ensure that the work goes smoothly and fast.
Earlier,
Director of Highway Designs and Bridges from the Federal Ministry of Works,
Housing and Transportation in charge of the project, Mr. Sylvester Jijingi had
assured the acting president that it will take 14 days to complete the
temporary bridge. He, however, assured that the permanent bridge which would be
a dual bridge will be completed by December this year.
He said N2.5
billion has already been released for the completion of the entire project.
He told the
Acting President that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Police and men
from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) had been adequately
mobilized to ensure free flow of traffics.
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