By Jamiu Ganiyu
Residents of Ilobu and environs are now hopeful as construction work has resumed on the multi-billion naira Ojutu bridge which is being financed by the federal government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.
The project which was facilitated by the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Lasun Yusuf, as part of his constituency project for the year 2017 has over time experienced a delay as a result of slow funding by the federal government.
However, the contractor has since three weeks ago, resumed work on the project. Residents and motorists of the area had expressed serious concern about the completion of the project which they likened to the normal abandonment associated with such government projects in Nigeria.
In an effort to monitor the activities of the contractor and assess the level of work done, osun.life correspondent was at the project site and also spoke with one of the project engineers.
While speaking with osun.life, the project engineer who spoke under anonymity, said the initial abandonment was as a result of the bureaucracy involved in getting funding from the federal government after contractors might have work to the level of payment received.
He emphasized that the federal government doesn’t give money in advance, they pay once the contractor has worked to the level of payment received and there is no commercial bank that can give out loans to finance such project because of experiences of the past.
The Project Engineer however assured that they will soon install the casted beams to the bridge, do the sand filling and once that is done, it would be partially motorable while Asphalt tarring of the road will be done for both sides of the bridge which is around 200m distance.
In his reaction to the new resumption of work on the bridge, the National President of Ilobu Development Union, Mr. Dauda Adebisi Balogun expressed delight over the new development.
The front line community leader of Ilobu also used the opportunity to thank the facilitator, Rt. Hon. Lasun Yusuf, for his positive intervention on the age-long bridge and many other projects he has facilitated to the town within the short space of time.