Senate summons Fashola over falling bailey bridges

The Senate yesterday asked the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, to appear before its committee on Works to explain his ministry’s plan for the reconstruction of all bailey bridges across the nation.

The senate also gave the Ministry of Works four weeks to carry out an inventory of all bailey bridges across the nation and report back to them.

The Upper Chambers specifically asked the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency to commence the reconstruction of the bailey bridges across Ebenyi River at Ikem in the Isi Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State.

This followed the adoption of a motion on “Recurring collapse of Bailey bridges nationwide” raised before the house by Senator Gilbert Nnaji, Enugu East.

Nnaji, in his debate, argued that Bailey bridges, developed and used during the Second World War, were built in Nigeria during the pre-independent era up to few years after the Nigerian civil war, to provide temporary crossing for foot and vehicle.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, said the bridges were so small that the local government should be made to fix them.

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