North East Development Commission (NEDC) has partnered with the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to assess and provide professional advice on rebuilding roads and bridges that were damaged in the region.
Our correspondent reports that several roads in the six states of the Northeast have been cut off by flood resulting from excessive rainfall while some bridges in the region collapsed making accessibility to many communities difficult.
The NEDC managing director, Mohammed Alkali, reiterated this yesterday during a meeting with NSE representatives at the commission’s headquarters in Maiduguri.
He said though there was a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between NEDC and NSE as part of the mandate in developing the region, it is very important to interface and provide lasting solutions to the short, medium and long term environmental degradation and other challenges in the North Eastern states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba that have experienced flood devastation this year.
Alkali said the terms of reference would be produced immediately after a robust deliberation with relevant bodies, adding that a committee to be set up by the NEDC and NSE would swing into action for rehabilitation of the roads.
He said the situation calls for an urgent approach as the states have witnessed the disaster of collapsed roads and bridges that needed prompt intervention.
The NEDC Boss said, “We brought people with professional qualifications to assist with on the spot assessment and produce a report we would work on to ameliorate the suffering of our people.”
Responding, the chairman of NSE, Borno State, Engr Mohammed Shettima said, although there was an MOU on ground with the commission but due to some reasons, it was not effective for quite some time.
He however assured that with the present situation of roads and bridges in the region, the issues would be revisited and the NSE will collaborate with the NEDC to address the challenges.
