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Akerebiata-Harmony residents groan over deteriorating bridge

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Akerebiata Harmony residents groan over deteriorating bridge

By: Ibrahim Mohammed Funsho 

It has been 21 days since the bridge linking Harmony Estate and Zango communities was destroyed by a torrential downpour which eventually culminated in heavy flood that left many houses, farmlands and fish ponds devastated.

The horrible incident created an indelible memory in the minds of residents of Akerebiata-Harmony community as many of them were left stranded by the uncontrollable inrush of flood into their different houses in the midnight. In fact, several families were estranged from their homes leaving them at the mercy of their neighbours.

Big Bro Livestock and Miliki Farms Count Their Losses

The flood did not only come with infrastructural damage but was also accompanied by economic losses as Big Bro Livestock and Miliki Farms counted their losses on Saturday morning, 30th October, 2022 as they woke up to see thousands of their fish swim out of their ponds into the river that travels all the way from Asa.

Owners of the two devastated fish ponds, Hassan Abdulganiyu and Asaju Muhammad had to deal with existential angst of watching their investments wash away like gully erosion.

One of the many havocs wreaked by the flood was the destruction of the Harmony Bridge connecting the community to Zango and other nearby communities. Several hours after the destruction, the bridge seemed like a tourist scene as every Tom, Dick and Harry within the enclave paid a tourist visit to the bridge.

The State Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq too alongside his entourage visited the scene to know the level of damage caused by the heavy flood enlivening hope of a possible and quick renovation of the infrastructure.

A few days down the line, residents of the community, commercial drivers and commuters realized the gravity of the infrastructural blow they had been dealt – even school children had a bitter pill of ugly occurrence.

Actually, the Kwara State Government had mounted a huge barricade to bar road users from ply the bridge to guide against further unforseen havocs that might arise from continuous use of the already devastated bridge but the rigor of having had to cover a long distance using other routes including the economic implications therein are some of the reasons responsible for their deviant behaviour.

Akerebiata Harmony residents groan over deteriorating bridge

A side of Harmony Bridge

Some residents of the community in an interview with EVENTNG explained the level of inconvenience and hardship they are currently facing as a result of the condition of the bridge. They complained that they have been spending excessive transport fare to their work places as against what they used to spend before the bridge collapsed, stating that another attendant effect of the poor state of the bridge is the fact that their wards and children who ply the road to their various schools have to resort alternative inconvenient route to get to their schools as this has amounted to lateness to school and physical stress militating against their academic performance.

Nurudeen Toyin, a resident of the community, averred that the bridge collapse has worsened the usual gridlock along Gambari-Akanlabi route keeping many of the commuters in traffic jams for long every night.

Impending security concern was part of the crux of the interview as residents claimed that Government’s failure to fix the bridge on time might brew the long anticipated opportunity for hoodlums around the area to perpetrate robbery because the road has recently become too quiet and unsafe at night due to lack of influx of traffic on the bridge making it a shadow of it old self.

Speaking with EVENTNG, Wahidi Tunde, a commercial tricycle operator who plies the route lamented that the bridge mishap has brought an untold hardship upon him and his family members because they cannot pass through the anymore. Wahidi said most times he sleeps at home in daytime and have to work at night randomly because his tricycle belongs in Harmony-Zango zone and operation outside his zone would call for a severe penalty against him from the leadership their association.

He further revealed that he does beg some of his friends in other zones who understand his ordeal to allow him work with their tricycles, at least to raise some money to feed his family for the day.

Akerebiata Harmony residents groan over deteriorating bridge 2

Harmony Bridge leading to Akerebiata

Another resident of the community, Mr. Bolaji Suleiman, made a serious appeal to the Kwara State Government to as a matter of urgency look into their plights by swinging into action, lamenting that the current condition of the road poses a lot of social threats to not only the commuters but also to residents of the community.

Mr. Bolaji, however, said that negligence on the part of the state government to speedily repair the collapsed bridge would incur more cost as the bridge continue to deteriorate.

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