The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Monday dismissed reports that he promised to rebuild the collapsed Mokwa bridge in 72hours.
He said “we don’t repair a bridge in 72 hours.”
The minister told the stakeholders at the 28th Monthly Power Sector and Stakeholders’ meeting in Kaduna, that Nigeria lost the Mokwa covet to a downpour and flood on Sunday.
Fashola said the ministry has commenced emergency intervention to cushion the initial traffic discomfort in the area.
According to him, only the engineers and contractors deployed to the site can decide when the work would be completed.
He said: “Yesterday (Sunday) we lost a box covet on one of our major highways on Mokwa to heavy rainfall and flood. We had to commence emergency intervention and traffic diversion. We will start emergency repairs soon.
“Media houses have reported that I said the bridge will be repaired in 72 hours. We don’t repair a bridge in 72 hours. What I said is that the discomfort from diverting traffic and uncertainty, we will try and manage. And within 72 hours we should be able to effectively manage the diversion to ease the initial discomfort.
“The time it will take to construct the bridge will depend on the advice I receive from the engineers and the contractors who have been deployed to the site.”