The minister of state for Regional Development, Hon Uba Maigeri, has confirmed that the North East Development Commission (NEDC) is to commence the reconstruction of the collapsed Namnai Bridge along Jalingo-Wukari federal highway in Taraba State.
The minister stated this yesterday when he visited the site of the bridge alongside surveyors and quantity engineers from the NEDC, stating that the bridge needed emergency attention to ease the plight of travellers from Maiduguri to Kalabar highway.
Maigeri said the federal government had earlier listed the Namnai Bridge among the 12 bridges across the six states of the northeastern part of Nigeria for reconstruction before it was washed away by a heavy downpour.
“As a responsible government, we are here to respond to the plight of our people; we are not leaving anything to chance. We are supposed to be on holiday, but we took a break from the holidays to be here to personally access the level of damages and proffer immediate solution for the good of the people.
He stated that the federal government was working in collaboration with the Taraba State government to achieve the desired results.
“As a responsible government, we need to work in collaboration with the state government to get the desired result, whatever it takes.
“Whatever it takes to ease the sufferings of the travelers, we are going to provide an immediate alternative. Whether it takes us to provide a floating bridge, we are ready to make it available before the commencement of the construction,” the minister stated.
Our correspondent reports that the Taraba state government, through the state’s commissioner for works, Hon. Moseh Luka, announced the award of the contract for the construction of the Namnai bridge to CRANEBURG Construction Company for N19bn.
