Senator Sunday Marshall Katung, who represents Kaduna South Senatorial District, visited and condoled with the families and Ribang community in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State over the weekend after six secondary school students drowned while returning from writing the recently concluded Basic Education Certificate Examination.
Last Tuesday, six students from Government Secondary School, Fadan Chawai Ribang community drowned in the Mbang River while crossing with their colleagues.
The Senator, who bemoaned the bad status of the road that connects to the community and the absence of a bridge, urged to governments at all levels to consider the plight of the people by constructing a bridge for the community.
He prayed to God to console the immediate family, Chawai Chiefdom, and the entire people of Kauru Local Government Area, and hoped that their death would be like a sacrificial one, opening doors for the whole community.
Senator Katung vowed to continue working with the state and federal governments to provide social amenities to the people, particularly communities in desperate need of aid.
Earlier, Mr. Garba Madaki, the village chief of Ribang, congratulated the Senator and his entourage for their visit, stating that the community had never seen such a high-profile individual.
While lamenting that the community lacks social facilities such as access roads and health care, the village head appealed to the authorities to come to their rescue as they are finding it difficult to transport their farm produce to the markets.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Senator met with various organisations from the Senatorial zone to continue presenting his scorecard to various stakeholders after one year in office.
Senator Katung told the Forum of Southern Kaduna Professors in Zonkwa that the Senate would soon hold a public hearing on the bill he sponsored to create a Federal University of Applied Sciences Manchok.
He challenged them as academics to make substantial contributions during the public hearing to make the dream a reality, even though he is convinced the bill will gain presidential approval as soon as it is enacted into law by both chambers of the National Assembly.
He thanked them for their encouragement and constructive criticism, and he underlined that he is always open to suggestions for improving his representation.
Separately, the team’s head, Professor John Gambo Laah, Prof. Alexander Kure, and Prof. Abbas Sodangi, all praised Senator Katung for getting off to a strong start and for attempting to modify the traditional method of representation.
They also praised him for uniting and leading all of the zone’s representatives, and urged him to continue putting the people first in all he does, including reaching out to ordinary people.