Residents of Ashara-Wako community in Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory have applauded the administration of the President Muhammadu Buhari for the construction of bridge and embankment in the community.
Speaking on behalf of the community, Etsu Yaba, Alh.Abdullahi Adamu commended the Federal Government for the timely intervention the bridge and road project which had addressed the issue of flood at the river bank and road demarcation. He noted that in the past the road was impassable except through the use of canoe as a means of transportation as the bridge totally collapsed. He also commended the FCT Minister Mohammed Bello for forwarding his request to Ecological Fund Office for the project execution.
Commissioning the project, the Minister of FCT, Mohammed Bello expressed his appreciation for associating with the successful project, he revealed that during phase1 inspection with the Permanent Secretary EFO, he observed that without the extension of the bridge and construction of embankment at the river, the project would be useless and as a result the need for phase2 was necessitated.
The minister also promised the construction of road from the community to the express way. He commended the effort of the contractor and consultant for working day and night to ensure the timely completion of the project. Bello urged the community to maintain the project by ensuring the culverts were free of debris.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Habiba Lawal said that the phase 1&2 of the project were parts of the 1st and 2nd quarters, 2018 Federal Government’s ecological intervention projects and were awarded separately by the Federal Executive Council in August and November 2018 respectively.
Lawal revealed that the request for urgent intervention was forwarded to Ecological Fund Office (EFO) by the Hon. Minister of FCT Administration, Mallam Muhammadu Musa Bello in order to arrest the continuous flooding of the river bank and the erosion of the bridge embankments at the Ashara-Wako River and to restore the vehicular movement on the bridge which had been cut off due to erosion.
The Permanent Secretary attributed the timely completion of the project to the contractor and consultant who had worked tirelessly to ensure minimum loss of time in the project implementation schedule and the close monitoring by the EFO. Dr .Lawal reiterated that the project was expected to achieve the dual purpose of enabling community to take over and exercise ownership over the project.
Present at the event were Etsu Kwali, Dr. Audu Shaban-Nizazo III; Perm-Sec of FCT, Sir.Chineyeaka Ohaa; Abaji Area Council, Alh.Abdulrahaman Ajiya among others.
IKAKE EMMANUEL
