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From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has initiated rehabilitation efforts on the Gombe/Bauchi road, which was severely damaged by a deluge. Motorists have encountered challenges traversing the road in light of a recent downpour that resulted in flooding in the area.
Inspecting the rehabilitation site on Friday, the representative of the northeast zonal coordinator of the Agency, Mr. Muhammad Adamu, expressed satisfaction with the level of work on the road which links Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, and Taraba states.
He said, “So far so good, the progress of the work here is highly commendable, despite the challenge of heavy rain, the work is still moving fast”. The coordinator also appreciated the effort of the agency’s field engineer in Gombe state, Mr. Charles Avishigh, and his staff as he urges them to continue the good work.
Meanwhile, on his part, the Field Engineer, Mr. Charles disclosed that the rehabilitation works were in response to the challenges being faced by motorists which were occasioned by the flood. He added that the repairs would lessen the challenges for road users.
According to him, the Acting Managing Director (MD/CEO) of the federal agency, Mr. Godson Amos had directed that maintenance works should be carried out on the road to ensure succor for the users of the road network, pending the disbursement of fund by the Federal Government for the full reconstruction of the road.
He said, “The current work that is ongoing now is the emergency repairs of collapsed embankment and shoulder along the Gombe/Bauchi road. We are trying our best to see that all federal roads are motorable for all road users. FERMA is restoring all roads by way of reconstructing all washouts along federal roads nationwide”.
The Field Engineer further explained that similar works were being initiated along Gombe/Biu road, “we are working to restore the critically failed sections of the road to ensure that it remains motorable. We have also flagged Gombe/Potiskum, Gombe/Numan, and Billiri/Filiya roads for rehabilitation and intervention works within the field program.
“In Gombe FERMA field office we are hopeful that when funds are released to FERMA, we will tackle the other federal roads, especially the Gombe/Biu road,” Mr. Charles assured. Meanwhile, some motorists have expressed delight with the interventions of the agency.
“We are happy seeing FERMA working on this road, before this intervention you can hardly travel from Gombe to Bauchi with your car in good condition. It must be faulty because of the bad roads. But with this intervention, we can now ply the road safely,” Ishaku Baba a commercial driver told newsmen in an interview at the rehabilitation site along Gombe/Bauchi road.
