The Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA) has commenced a synergy approach with the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Ibadan North-West Local Government on the need to end the problem of drainage blockage in the Ibadan metropolis, especially in Dugbe, Post Office way.
This was made known on Monday evening by the Chairman OYSROMA, Honourable Busoye Soladoye during an inspection on blockage drainage lines at Dugbe, Ibadan.
He said all the stakeholders present during the inspection, which include representatives of the State Ministry of Works and Transport and those from the concerned local government area were ready to work hand in hand to put a stop to the problem of blockage of drainages on Dugbe road axis along Bank and post office road.
The Chairman, OYSROMA who was accompanied by the Agency’s management of staff, elaborated on the need to maintain a healthy environment and keep roads durable.
He said the Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration would not tolerate acts that will hamper the smooth conditions of the State roads.
Hon. Soladoye maintained that the blockage of drainage was caused by dumping of refuse on water outlets, thereby resulting in spillover on the roads, thereby causing problems for motorists and traders, while he advised the citizens of Oyo state to keep debris out of the drains in order to allow free movement of water.
“It is high time we told ourselves the home truth, dumping of refuse in the drainage system is the major cause of damage to our roads, if government expends so much money on construction of roads and we dump refuse on the line drainage, it will fill up and spill contents on the road, which will lead to weakening of the roads and their eventual damage.
“We are happy that we now have a synergy among us the OYSROMA, Ministry of Works and the concerned local government authority to put an end to this problem and we will replicate same across the State.”
The Special Adviser for Infrastructure to the Governor, Mr. Seye Adeleye, in his words during the inspection, said what brought all the stakeholders together was the report of flooding which came from the people of Oyo State about the stretch of road at Dugbe, along the post office and bank road.
He said that all the relevant agencies concerned were present to see what caused the blockage and would, from the assessment, make provisions to do the corrections as required.
“Most of the issues are bothering on dumping of refuse, so we will also need to contact the sister Ministry, Ministry of Environment to see how we can have a long time solutions to some of the issues we are facing on the road which is mostly from debris and distilling causing block drainage and flooding of the roads.”
In his contribution, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of works and Transport, Mr. Fatai noted that the blockage was from the Oyo State Library Board, Dugbe office to the main road, which caused spillover of drainage content, thereby causing degeneration of the road, especially during the rainy season.
He said the Ibadan North-west local government officials and KOPEK construction company will be carried along, to assess the situation and proffer a permanent solution to the problem.
