It was a huge relief for residents of Amaruru, an agrarian community in Orsu Local Government Area of Imo State as work starts on the collapsed bridge which cut off the community from other parts of the state and neighbouring Anambra State, where they sell their farm produce and buy other household needs.
The community was thrown into anguish after the only bridge linking the community with other villages, especially the Nnewi, the commercial hub of Anambra state, which is the mainstay of economic and social activities in the otherwise sleepy community caved in under the weight of a truck conveying cement.
The long bridge believed to have been constructed over 60 years ago through communal effort, finally caved in, after several years of disrepair. The bridge according to the villagers, has been given signs of imminent collapse, but all efforts to get the requisite authorities to intervene, were all abortive.
The plight of the community had attracted the attention of the state House of Assembly and subsequently a delegation of Lawmakers was sent to have on the spot assessment of the collapsed bridge and proffer solution.
But despite the powerful delegation by the state Lawmakers and engineers from the state Ministry of Works, the hope of repair of the collapsed bridge remained elusive three months after.
But just as the people continued to grapple with the enormous challenge occasioned by the collapse of the bridge, almost losing hope of any intervention in the near future, sucour came the way of the people.
A philanthropist Ozodinobi O. Nnamachie, an engineer, after a visit to the bridge volunteered to sponsor palliative repair on the bridge pending when a permanent structure will be built.
The people are relieved and socio-economic activities have bounced back and the community is once reconnected with their friends and relatives in other villages.
Nze Cornel Isiuzo, a farmer, who had bemoaned the continued neglect of the broken bridge by relevant authorities, commended the efforts of the philanthropist, adding that his intervention has saved the community from harrowing ordeal.
Isiuzo, who said he was barely nine years old when the bridge was constructed, lamented that the community union may not be able to raise the required amount of money to fix the bridge on time, adding that, “it was a big challenge, we were trapped, we could not take our farm produce to the market and most of our women trade at the Nnewi market but we thank God that it is over now”.
He said, “The entire community was at a loss over how to go about it because we have written several letters to the state government but nothing tangible came out of it. Now that the bridge has finally collapsed, we hope the state government will come to our aid”.
Another community leader, Chief Stanley Ukammor, described the gesture as divine, adding that since the collapse of the bridge, the community has been going through untold hardship.
He said, “We did not know how to go about it and the money needed to fix it or build another bridge is enormous and beyond the capacity of the villagers, who are mostly peasant farmers and retirees. So we just resigned to fate and praying that intervention could come from anywhere, we are happy today that God has answered our prayers”.
We are appealing to the state governor, Rochas Okorocha to order immediate palliative repairs on the bridge to free us from the current plight”.
He however lamented that the community is facing another imminent danger of flooding as the Orashi River is already overflowing its banks since the collapse of the Bridge, “we are also confronted by another challenge that need to be quickly addressed, the Orashi River is overflowing the banks and the implication is that our farmlands will be flooded and our entire crops will be destroyed. Something need to be done and urgently too”.