By Terna Chikpa, Jalingo
The North-East Development Commission, on Friday said it will immediately collaborate with the relevant authorities to fix the collapsed bridges in Taraba.
Alhaji Mohammad Alkali, the managing Director of the commission stated this while on assessment visit to the collapsed Nemnai Bridge that has been washed away by flood in Gassol Local Government Area of the state.
The commission’s Managing Director who decried the collapsed of major bridges in the North-East region, described the scenario as endemic, promised that a temporal solution would immediately be provided to reconnect the state economically, while a permanent solution follows.
He attributed the phenomenon as effects of climate change and plead for regular assessment of state of such climax prone facilities.
According to Alkali, the North-East region is the most affected climate change and its components, which has put significant pressure on both the government and inhabitants of the region. He however assured that the commission would not be deterred, but work with the respective state governments to find lasting solutions to the recurrent bridge collapse across the region.
“I was in Adamawa state two weeks ago for the same problem. Bauchi has its own share, so is Gombe. Now we have also seen the same problem in Taraba where some bridges have been washed away few days ago.
“Right now we have to sit down and look at the problem comprehensively and provide solutions that would be durable for the future. It will be a collaborative work with the state governments so our people can have a sigh of relief,” Alkali assured.
PERISCOPE NIGERIA reports that commuters along the route now use bolt to connect the other side of the washed bridge, at the cost of N5000 per commercial bus.
Our correspondent also reports that the NEDC Managing Director inspected the commission’s ongoing projects in Jalingo, Wukari, Bali and Zing local governments.
