New Nigerian Newspapers Online Edition

Road network is vital to socio-economic development of any nation and that is why developed and developing countries focus their attention in providing such basic infrastructure.
It is a well known fact that road network is seriously lacking in Taraba State especially in the rural areas.
Created out of the defunct Gongola State in 1991, Taraba State is still in need of road network both in urban and rural areas.
For example, apart from the federal highway which link Zing, Jalingo, Mutum Biyu, Wukari Ibi, Takum-Bali, Mutum Biyu-Bali-Serti-Gembu, the rest part of the state has no tarred road.
It was of recent that the Federal Government also constructed the Rafin Kada Donga road with a bridge at River Donga in Donga town. Similarly work on Mararraban Baissa-Bali road project is still on-going while the Garba Chede-Sunkani-Jalingo which is also a federal road is in a terrible state of disrepairs.
Apart from these roads, the rest part of the state do not have road network, a development which makes movement of goods and services very difficult.
The problem is further compounded by the difficult terrain in most parts of the state. Apart from big rivers such as river Benue, Taraba and Donga, there are other big and small streams in all parts of the state while there are chains of mountains all over the state which make journey very difficult or impossible especially during rainy season.
It was based on this reality that the senate committee on works during its inspection of federal roads in Taraba State expressed surprise over the poor road network in the state.
The chairman of committee, Senator Ibrahim Gaya, who was a one time civilian Governor of Kano State told this writer in an interview shortly after their tour that the terrible state of federal roads in the state is the worst compared to other states visited by the committee.
Senator Gaya said it was also surprising to discover that narrow bridges built in the fifties are still in existence along federal highways in the state.
The committee also expressed dismay that a military bridge is still being used in a federal highway which calls for urgent attention.
They concluded that the situation in Taraba State really called for urgent attention so as to save the lives and property of the citizens and at the same time bring rapid development in the state.
Worried by lack of road network in the state, Governor Danbaba Suntai awarded two road projects which are vital to the socio-economic development of the state.
The roads are Balaifi Karim Lamido and Sabon Gari Jen roads all in Karim Lamido Local Government area.
The other road project is the Mararraban-Baissa-Baissa-Abong road all in Kurmi Local Government awarded to Quemec Construction Company.
Before the award of the road contract by the present administration, Karim Lamido Local Government area is referred as an island because of its difficult terrain as the entire area is surrounded by River Benue and other streams as well as mountains.
The distance between Jalingo and Karim Lamido town which is the headquarters of the local government is only 55 kilometers but because of the difficult terrain, it takes commuters hours to reach.
Even during dry season when the water level has reduced, it is still difficult to cross using either a ferry or canoe and during rainy seasons it takes hours and sometimes it is impossible to cross the river.
In most cases, it takes more than seven hours from Jalingo to reach Karim Lamido because you have to go through Numan and Lafiya Lamurde all in Adamawa State then to Mararraban Jen before you finally get to Karim Lamido town.
Even from Jen, there are still other small streams to cross between Banbuka and Munga villages. In most cases you will have to abandon your vehicle either at Jen or at Banbuka and trek down to the town and other parts of the local government.
Members of the state house of assembly who were on tour to the area late last month had to abandon their jeeps at river Munga and used alternative transport to the local government headquarters.
It was the youths in surrounding villages that helped the law makers to cross the streams along the road.
Sadly, the journey which should have lasted an hour took them twenty hours. While in Ibi, the law makers spent three hours on speed boats to reach other parts of the local government.
In Sardauna Local Government, they also faced similar problem as they were compelled to abandon their vehicles and rode on motorcycles.
All of them, including the speaker of the house Mr. Istifanus Gbana, could not use their vehicles but instead motorcycle riders were hired to take them round the local government area to inspect projects.
In Kurmi local government area, the problem was the same as there was no single tarred road in the entire area.
It takes several hours to reach the area from Jalingo, the state capital, and during the rainy season it is difficult or impossible to reach some parts of the local government area.
Kurmi Local Government area which shared an international boundary with Cameroon is also one of the areas that have difficult terrain and the problem is compounded by lack of road network.
The federal government in 1993 awarded the road contract from Mararraban Baissa to Baissa town, the headquarters of the area, but the contract was revoked for failure of the contractor to do any job and until now the Federal Government is yet to revisit the project.
It is the same in Bali as no federal road passed through the area, there is no single road linking any town with the headquarters of the local government council.
That was the situation the present administration met on the ground. Out of its desire to address the problem of road infrastructure, Governor Suntai awarded a contract for the construction of two roads at the cost of over 13 billion Naira to Quemec Construction Company Nigeria Limited. This move by Governor Suntai administration was considered by many as a right step taken in the right direction.
The chief of Jen in Karim Lamido Local Government Area, Malam Ismaila Agwaru said the present administration has broken the jinx as many administrations had failed to construct a road in the area.
He said, a survey was carried out during the defunct Northern Region with a view to constructing a road from Billiri to Mutum Daya to Karim Lamido but that proposal never saw the light of the day.
The chief also revealed that there was a similar attempt by the then North-Eastern state government but that too was never actualized. He said the area is always referred to as an island because of the difficult terrain which makes movement of goods and services very difficult all the time.
Alhaji Ismaila Agwaru maintained that people of the area face difficulty while reaching to other parts of the state and the country. According to him, it is difficult to count the number of people that lost their lives over the years while crossing rivers Benue at different points. He said lack of road has hampered development in the area and expressed happiness over the road contract awarded by Governor Danbaba Suntai.
It is the hope and prayers of every one that the road project will be completed in good time so that Suntai will leave his foot print in the history of the state.
Mr. Bulus Yakubu also lauded the present administration for the road projects. He said road is one of the basic infrastructure that was urgently needed in the area. According to him the area is blessed with huge agricultural resources but lack of road has always been the problem that hampered effective exploitation of that resources.
Mr. Bulus Yakubu said the area has the best timber reserve in the entire West African sub-region. Its palm oil is equally the best in terms of quality while cocoa is also growing in commercial quantity in the area.
He said despite all these resources, there is no single functional industry in the area. He said lack of road was the major cause of total backwardness of the area.
Mr. Yakubu said the Federal Government raised the hope of the people in the area when it awarded the road project in 1994 but that hope was dashed as the project was never executed and the contract was terminated. He said the road project was never revisited by the Federal Government. According to him, when they saw another contractor on the site, many of them thought that it was the Federal Government that re-awarded the road contract because it is a Federal Government road.
He said they were surprised to learn that it was the state government that awarded the contract for the project, adding that it is their hope that the state government will ensure the completion of the project so as to solve the problem of transportation in the area.
Governor Suntai said while awarding the contract that his administration is determined to address the problem of roads both in urban and rural areas of the state. He said it is a fact that in both the state capital and in rural areas of the state, road infrastructure is lacking. He said his administration will provide funds out of its limited resources to address the problem of road infrastructure in the state adding that good road network is vital to socio-economic development of the state.
A visit to the sites of the road project by our correspondent showed that the contractors handling the road project are fully mobilized to the site. At the Balaifi Karim Lamido and Jen road project, work was going with earth work covering from Sabon Gari to Jen and from Sabon Gari to Koner Banbuka. At the Mararraban Baissa to Baissa and Agbong road project, contractors have equally mobilized their machines to the site and work is in progress.
The state Commissioner for Works, Alhaji Abubakar Tutare told our correspondent that the contractor handling the project has all the necessary equipments and technical expertise to execute the two road projects. He said the state has attached top priority to the provision of road infrastructure in both urban and rural areas and assured that the contractor will meet the December 2009 deadline.
Alhaji Abubakar Tutare said though road construction is capital intensive, but however because of the importance of road in bringing rapid development, the present administration is determined to provide funds out of its limited resources to construct roads to open up rural areas to facilitate easy movement of goods and services.
The commissioner also explained that, the government will also gradually, provide road network in Jalingo, the state capital, adding that it was based on government’s determination to provide roads in the state capital that an agency was created to handle road construction and repairs in Jalingo town. However, considering the difficult terrain of the state, the Federal Government should come in and assist the state government through constructing additional road networks across the sixteen local government areas of the state and two bridges at Lau and Ibi towns.
The Ibi Bridge in river Benue is beyond the financial capability of Taraba State government to handle. The Federal Government should therefore handle it as it will serve as a link between Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa states as well as to the Federal Capital Territory. The bridge when constructed will equally serve as short cut to travellers coming to the state and those going out of the state as it will reduce the distance spend by motorists to reach other part of the state.
The Lau Bridge also at River Benue will link the state capital to Gombe, Bauchi, Plateau and Nasarawa states as well as to other parts of the state as it will serve as short cut.
The bridges when constructed will also foster development in the state as many projects under the federal and the state governments in the drawing board which require movement of heavy equipment from the port to the projects site notability among the projects includes the multi-billion Naira Mambilla Hydro-power project and the Lau sugar industry.
The Mambilla ring road and Gembu-Baissa road is also a Federal Government proposed road projects which when executed will improve in the socio-economic development of the state and the country in general.