Hello Friends!
The rains are here already and what becomes of the streets, buildings of Lagos State? What happens when floods take over the streets of Lagos?
The residents of Ikotun, a Lagos suburb, have decried the drainage channels project embarked upon by the Lagos State Government.
Chairman, Ade Ogo Community Development Association, Ikotun, Mr. Larry Ajigbotaje, said the community had long been neglected in terms of developmental projects and wondered why the government chose to do a shoddy job after such a long wait.
Ajigbotaje said, “The quality of materials being used for the project is quite poor. For example, a good number of the concrete culverts got broken even before placing them in the underground channels. Even at that, these broken culverts are still placed in these channels like that and patched up with cement.
“If the quality of materials being used for this project is not improved upon, there is no doubt that the project might end up a complete fiasco and the whole essence of controlling flooding in the area would be defeated.”
A resident, Mr. Bola Ajayi, observed that the handling of the project by the state Ministry of the Environment through direct labour might be responsible for the manner the site workers were going about the project.
Ajayi said, “We are not satisfied with the quality of work done on this project. As it is now, the direct labour team has done a poor job by all standards. If the direct labour team cannot handle the construction work well, then the state government should contract the job out to a competent firm.
“I learnt that they are managing materials and I think such issues should not crop up at all. The problem of flooding in this area is a serious one. It would be proper if this problem is solved once and for all and the safety of lives and properties of members of our community is guaranteed.
“The project is been undertaken with minimum supervision. We hardly see the site engineers at the site. If this shoddy job continues, a great disaster is simply looming in this community.”
One of the residents, Mr. Gabriel Ajayi said, “Should there be a flood disaster emanating from the structural defects and shoddy work done on this project, it is the residents that would feel the pains.
“We don’t want a situation whereby the shoddy work being done here would not be able to contain the floods. What we are simply guarding against is loss of lives, injuries to people and damage to property.
Besides, the residents also raised the alarm that the project was dragging too slowly, especially at a time when it had been forecast that there would be heavy rains in the state this year.
Ajigbotaje said, “At the start of the project, we were reliably informed that the construction would last for a period of 10 weeks.
“The project started on February 12 and till date, they have not covered half of the job. They are going about this project as if it is a part time job.”
Another resident, Matthew Oluwatosin, said the slow pace of work, which had made the channels to remain uncovered for so long was becoming a death trap for members of the community.
“Our children are at great risks and these days we have to do a compulsory school run in order to ensure that they don’t fall into these channels which transverse the community,” Oluwatosin said.
He added that the dug up channels had turned into gullies and urged the state government to fast track the completion of the project and ensure that it was of quality standard.
When our correspondent tried to reach out to the Commissioner, Mr. Tunji Bello, his phone rang out.Also, a text message sent to his phone was not responded to.
Culled from Punch Metro.
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Simply Cheska...
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