By Correspondent in Ilorin
Members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and its counterparts in the Road Transport Employee Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and some farmers on Monday in Ilorin, protested over the neglect of the Moro bridge in Asa Local Government Area of the state.
Our Correspondent reports that the bridge, a colonial construction,which has served the people of the state for several decades and connects Kwara with Igbeti in Oyo State is now on the verge of collapse.
Although the construction of a new bridge, to replace the colonial structure was awarded in 2017 by the Federal Government, the project is yet be to completed.
Motorists, transporters and pedestrians and farmers, held a protest where they lamented the negative impact of the neglect of the Federal Government bridge on their businesses and farming activities.
Addressing newsmen during the protest, the Kwara RTEAN chairman, Alhaji Olayinka Onikijipa, drew the attention of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to the suffering of the people of the state, on its failure in completing the new bridge.
According to him, the two unions and the people of the state were very displeased with the present situation pertaining to the bridge.
“The construction work has been abandoned since 2018.
“This has imposed a lot of hardship on the people and especially the transport workers and farmers who are in the majority here.
“The colonial structure has almost collapsed, causing unimaginable hardship to all us”, he added.
Onikijipa, therefore, passionately appealed to the Federal Ministry of Works and particularly the Minister, Babatunde Raji Fashola,to direct the contractor to go back to site without any further delay.
“Our people are suffering. We beg the Minister to come to our rescue now to save our businesses from collapse”, he added.
On his part, the state chairman of the NURTW, Alhaji Abdulrazaq Ariwo-Ola,said the unions had been involved in palliative measures to make the bridge passable.
Ariwo-Ola, who said the bridge had claimed some lives in the past, also called for drastic and urgent action to forstall further casualties on the bridge by completing the new one.
“We appeal to the Federal Government, on the devastating condition of the Moro bridge that connects the only road to Chikanda in Kosubosu, Kaiama Local Government Area to the border.
“Many lives have been lost because of the poor and worrying condition of the bridge which has now turned to a death trap”, he stressed.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
