Gwagwalada (FCT) – Some residents of Gwagwalada Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have appealed to the council’s chairman and FCT Administration to repair bad roads in the council area.

They made the appeal in separate interviews on Friday in Gwagwalada, saying that so many roads in the area were not passable and needed urgent attention.

According to them, some of the roads have deteriorated so badly, especially during this rainy season.

Mr Sule Hassan, a Civil Servant, said the poor state of roads in the area made movement in the council very stressful and also contribute to accidents.

He appealed to the Chairman of the Council, Alhaji Zakari Dobi to come to the aid of the residents.

“Almost all the roads in Gwagwalada are in bad condition; even some that they are rehabilitating have been abandoned; they should address road problem in the area.

“Cars are damaged always as a result of the bad roads; there is need to rehabilitate these roads for the benefit of the masses,’’ Hassan said.

Mrs Jane Nnoli, another Civil Servant, said that a lot needed to be done to repair these roads, saying that the repairs of these roads should be solid to reduce frequent damage.

Nnoli said that residents were not enjoying the roads at all and all the roads virtually need attention.

She also attributed the damage on the roads to poor drainage systems in the council, saying that some streets do not have gutters.

Also, Mrs Eunice Udensi, another resident, said the bad roads have made the cost of transportation more expensive in the area.

She explained that distance of N50 on motorcycle, which was the main cost of transportation, now goes for N80 to N100 as a result of bad roads.

According to her, the bad roads also contribute to high cost of some commodity, especially fruits and other perishable goods.

Udensi, however, appealed to the Chairman and FCTA to do fix the roads urgent so as to reduce the stress residents were going through.

Mr Ishiaku Mohammed, a commercial motorcyclist, said that the roads in Gwagwalada have made their work very hectic as they now spend more time on some roads.

Mohammed said that the bad road was also affecting their motorcycle, adding that they hardly ply on some of the roads.

“The condition of the roads in Gwagwalada is terrible, I choose places I go to, I do not ply on those roads that are very bad.

“If at all I need to go to any of these roads I will charge more; the nature of the roads have brought hardship to the people living in these areas, because they need to pay more to get to their location.

“The council needs to urgently attend to these roads, if they cannot construct new ones, they should grade the existing ones,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gwagwalada Area Council, Mr Usman Babalado, said that the council was working on the roads, adding that road construction is not done at once.

Babalado said that the council has constructed some roads such as One-way road, Demonstration road, Kabu road, among others.

He said that some roads were still under construction and that the council cannot construct all the roads in Gwagwalada at once as a result of lack of funds.

“The people have to be patient with us because we have meagre resources; we cannot construct all roads in Gwagwalada at once within two to three years.

“We inherited these roads from past administrations, we have many rural roads that need to be constructed,’’ he said.

He said that the council was collaborating with Satellite Development Agency to ensure that some of these roads were in good condition.

He, therefore, appealed to residents to be patient with the council as efforts were being made to fix some of the roads.
NAN