NAN
Rural dwellers in in Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau on Wednesday decried deplorable state of their roads and the lack potable water in their communities.
Leaders of the communities voiced their concerns on Thursday in Kanke, at a round-table discussion organised by the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), and supported by the Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN).
Mr Piwut Vincent, one of the community leaders, who spoke at the forum, said that the bad state of the roads was of particularly concern to them.
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“The roads are horrible and there is no drinking water, but we are particularly worried about the roads because we cannot develop and improve our living standards if we cannot move from one point to another.
“There are also lots of dangers in consuming bad water; there are a lot of diseases associated with that, but we do not have much choice,” Vincent, a community leader from Ampang West, said.
He said that the people were mostly farmers, noting that farm produce would not reach the right markets if there were no good roads.
Vincent urged elected and appointed representatives of the area to reach out to government and draw its attention to the situation.
The community leader also emphasised the need to complete the only General Hospital in Kanke Local Government, to ease access to quality healthcare services.
Mr Jacob Kassam, who represents Kanke constituency at the Plateau House of Assembly, who also spoke, assured the people of his commitment to their welfare.
He promised to present their demands to the state government, and urged the people to always voice their concerns instead of grumbling in silence.
Other stakeholders, who spoke in the same vein, urged government to assist the rural dwellers so as to minimise rural-urban migration.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the round-table discussion had in attendance 35 critical stakeholders drawn from the seven districts of the constituency.