Niger state government on Thursday says it will ban articulated vehicles plying Minna-Bida road in order to speed up the ongoing construction work on the road.
Balarabe Ibrahim, Chairman of the state Infrastructure Monitoring Committee and Chief of Staff to the Gov. Sani Bello, made this known during inspection of the ongoing construction work on the road.
Recall that the state government had in February inaugurated the construction of 84 kilomete Minna-Bida road at the cost of N23.9 billion.
Mr Ibrahim said that the governor had directed that all articulated vehicles should be banned from using Minna-Bida road, to fast track the construction work.
He, however, called on the Federal Government to urgently address the Bida-Lambata road, Mokwa-Tegina-Birnin Gwari-Kaduna road.
“We have resolved to take the bull by the horn by diverting traffic to Federal roads, we are therefore, putting up this call to the Federal Government to address the existing Federal roads in the state.
“We will no longer allow heavy duty trucks on our roads because we will no longer compromise the comfort of Niger people to please any heavy duty truck.
“The Lapai-Paiko road is also a state road and trucks will not be allowed on the route, we are concerned about the welfare of our people and it is giving us sleepless nights,” he said.
The chairman added that the state government would engage relevant stakeholders on its resolve so as to enable the contractor execute the project within the stipulated period.
On his part, Fahir Ibrahim, Project Manager of Dantata and Sawoe Contrsuction Company, explained that only 5.5 out of the 84 kilometre project had been executed, saying that heavy duty trucks were destroying the work already executed.
“Government needs to do something to reduce traffic on the road to allow us work because they are the ones delaying our work and drawing us back as they are spoiling parts of the road we have worked on.
“These truck drivers are not cooperating and patient, we have been using security personnel to assist us to control them,” he said.
He gave assurance that the project would be completed within the stipulated time once traffic was diverted from the route.
NAN
