Collapsed bridge wreaks havoc in Akwa Ibom
Residents of Uruan Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State are crying out to relevant authorities over collapsed bridge in the area that have claimed many lives and property.
Located at Mbiakong Community, the bridge was built by the military during the civil war and up till date the 70’s bridge has not taken a new shape.
Investigations show that already the bridge is loosening its knots and rails, making it a dangerous zone for many who ply through.
A lot of rural communities in the local government are also faced with same challenges, leaving the people in night mares, and this is a call to action for government to look into rural communities that has not witness any government present and infrastructures.
The story of Uruan community turned soar as the only road construction in Uruan Local governnment awarded by the NDDC some years ago was later abandoned halfway, leaving the people to their own fate.
Since then they have suffered flood and other climate change related activities.
Several attempts to draw the commission’s attention to its completion proves abortive.
On the spot interaction with some community youths reveals that, the dilapidated bridge has overtime recorded many havocks, including the recent one where a nursing mother lost her child who was on back, but fell off into the ocean.
There is also that of a pregnant woman whose leg mistakenly slipped in through the bridge hole, leading to her death.
“School children and traders are not left out from this ugly situation” Mr prince Nyong lamented.
Enobet Environmental Watch Initiative also hosted the village head of Mbiakong Community in Uruan Local Government Area, Chief Hyacinth Nyong Okon on passion 94.5fm Uyo, on the program Environmental Spotlights to discuss in-depth environmental challenges faced in Uruan local Government. He listed some of the villges the collapsed bridge has cut off, to include; lkpa uruan, Ita uruan, Ebikpe uruan, Mbiaya uruan, Ikot Udo, Eman Uruan, utit uruan and its environs.
He however expressed sadness that community members are levied in order to fix the dilapidated bridge. According to him, they had to use local woods to construct the bridge just to make it passable, yet these efforts are not giving them any fruitful results. Rather, they keep recording looses everyday from the collapsed bridge.
Also speaking was Lawrence Okon Who narrated that many parents no longer risk their children to schools and farmers no longer go to market to sell their wares as a result of the collapsed bridge.
Christian Asuquo resident of mbiakong joined his voice in appealing to the government to intervene as “they are tired of counting looses everyday and doing remedial work on the collapsed bridge which doesn’t ease them of the stress passing through the big gap holes from the bridge.”
The reconstruction of mbiakong bridge in Uruan local Government Area Akwa Ibom State will bring a glimmer of hope to the suburbs.
