Two bridges and one culvert in Katsina State, north-west Nigeria, top the list of early beneficiaries of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) zero pot holes exercise across the Nigerian roads.
The FERMA officials said communities in Katsina complained of negligence by concerned authority for over three years.
The road links Kano to Katsina and from Katsina to Kankia, Dutsinma and Safana Local Government Areas of Katsina State.
During last year’s rainy season, a bridge en-route to Katsina from Kano collapsed, killing not fewer than 17 people. After several days FERMA carried out an emergency repair of the bridge. The Agency says it is ready to reconstruct the Kano-Katsina ‘killer Bridge’.
From Kankia to Safana, there is a bad culvert which the residents had complained to the authority severally about in in the last three years but nothing was done. Homes around the area have been reduced to rubble due to constant erosion emanating beneath the culvert.
“The velocity of the water here is very high and a heavy rainfall may completely bring down the road,” an engineer attached to the Federal Road Maintenance Agency sad.
The Managing Director of FERMA, Mr Gabriel Amuchi, told reporters that resources would soon be provided to rehabilitate the roads.
Kankia, Safana and Dutsinma are important agricultural zones in Katsina State which is why the maintenance of the roads have become not only important but necessary for farmers in the area to transport their agricultural produce to either Katsina or Kano State.
