Mambilla hydropower project mere wish in absence of access roads, Ishaku insists

Vows to rescue abducted Chinese

MOVES by the Federal Government to establish Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station could only be fruitful if the access roads to the project were urgently constructed, Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba State has submitted. He insisted that heavy- duty equipment would not be able to get to site until the infrastructure were fixed.

Disturbed by the development and the central government’s seeming ‘ aloofness’, the governor has flagged off construction of the over 80- kilometre highway.

For speed, efficiency and quality, three firms have been assigned to take charge of the roads.

During the inauguration yesterday at Kurmi council area of the state, Ishaku noted: “I have to do it because the Federal Government is not ready to come here.

“There is no road leading to where the Mambilla project is sited.

“It is my administration’s determination to continue with the construction of this road.”

Stating that “leaving these roads unattended to would further make my people suffer”, the governor held that “without the roads getting the desired attention, the dream of putting smile on faces of Nigerians via the Mambilla power project would be a mirage.”

He, however, urged the people to cooperate with the contractors for speedy execution of the projects.

Ishaku, who also decried the recent abduction of a Chinese in the state, said: “We are working assiduously to rescue him.”

Urging the people to “provide protection for the contractors”, he added that funds for the projects had been set aside by his administration.