Collapsed Moro Bridge: Transporters seek FG’s intervention
By Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
Transporters under the aegis of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employee Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in Kwara State, on Monday sought the federal government’s intervention in the reconstruction of the Moro bridge in Asa Local government area of the state.
The bridge which links Kwara state with Igbeti in Oyo State is now in the state of disrepair, with commuters finding it difficult to pass through it.
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.
Speaking on the state of disrepair of the Moro bridge, RTEAN chairman in the state, Alhaji Olayinka Onikijipa, called the attention of the Minister of Works and Housing, l Babatunde Fashola (SAN), to the harrowing experience of the commuters plying the route.
“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 appealed to Fashola to direct the contractor handling the project to return to site without further delay.
For his part, the state chairman of the NURTW, Alhaji AbdulRazaq Ariwo-Ola, said the unions have been applying palliative measures to make the bridge passable.
Ariwo-Ola, who said the bridge had claimed lives in the past, sought urgent action on its reconstruction in order to to save lives and property.