How road works report stirred Kaduna community

The report quoted residents of the community as saying they do not want the road presently being constructed by the Kaduna State Government. The project, it was gathered, commenced in March and has reached 70 percent completion including the construction of a bridge which has been completed. But the publication quoted residents saying the community had […]

The report quoted residents of the community as saying they do not want the road presently being constructed by the Kaduna State Government.
 The project, it was gathered, commenced in March and has reached 70 percent completion including the construction of a bridge which has been completed. But the publication quoted residents saying the community had alleged that the road is causing a lot of hazards to inhabitants of Hayin Malam Bello, Rigasa as heavy red dust fly over most of the residents homes thereby constituting health hazards as well as high rates of accidents.
Our correspondent who visited the community reported that part of the road has already been completed while one part is waiting the second layer of asphalt to make it complete.
Malam Yahaya Baban Ummaima, a resident of Rigasa who spoke with our correspondent said, “We do not know the people who spoke in the newspaper that said they do not want the road work to continue. We have for the past 28 years ago been writing and pleading with different governments to construct the road for the community especially a bridge which has been threatening the community since the government of Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi, then that of Namadi Sambo, the late Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa and finally the present government of Mukhtar Ramalan Yero. Now, our cry is finally heard.
 “Before the bridge was constructed, each year, two or three children in the community got drowned due to over flow of water during the rainy season. When you are on the other side of the road and you see a storm coming you have to leave everything you are doing and cross over because if you do not do that, it will take a very long time before the water comes down and if one couldn’t wait, one would have to go round which is over a kilometer distance before getting into the community.
 “When we saw the media report which said the community does not want the road work embarked upon by the state government, our hearts became very heavy because we know what we have been suffering and what we suffered before we got the attention of the government and all we can say to this government is Thank You,” he said.
 He called on the people who wrote the report to have the fear of God in them.
“We disassociate ourselves from the report because we don’t know the people that spoke on behalf of the community and we’re fully in support of the ongoing road work embarked upon by the state government,” he stressed.
Another resident of Hayin Malam Bello in Rigasa who is Deputy Imam of the Abuja Road Juma’at mosque said, “When I came to the area, I met residents battling on how they could get attention from the government in the construction of the road in question.
“During the rainy season, young men in the community are seen working on the road using sand and stones to make the road motorable and when the rain is heavy, the road gets blocked and residents are trapped in until the water subsides.
“We have also lost quite a number of children due to lack of a proper bridge to allow the water move freely. We’re so happy when the present government started constructing the road and the bridge for us because it is something that the community has longed for.
He called on the state government not to listen to the so called people who allegedly spoke on behalf of residents of Hayin Malam Bello saying they are disgruntled elements.
However, another resident, Malam Rabiu Adamu Ladan said some people did not want the continuation of the project for the simple reason that the road did not pass in front of their houses.