Concerned by the challenges confronting business owners and residents of Lagos Island, the Government has apologized over the stagnant stormwater halting mobility around the communities due to the ongoing regeneration exercise in the state.
It said that the inconveniences currently experienced by Lagos Island residents would end soon as efforts were intensified to give a permanent solution to the flooding challenges that often affect the axis during the rainy season.
While stressing that the flooding has become a disturbing phenomenon on Lagos Island, the government assured residents that temporary measures would be deployed to ease the pain on residents.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this on Friday after an inspection tour of the ongoing urban regeneration construction at Aroloya, Oroyinyin, Ojo Giwa, and Binuyo on Lagos Island.
Wahab said: “We came to see what Julius Berger has been up to in the past few months, and we are glad at the pace of work that’s been done.
“They are taking a new position, raising the height of the road as well as out of the drainage, and you have seen the quality of what is being done there.
He said government set up a pumping station at Adeniji Adele Underbridge temporarily to pump out storm water in Aroloya Street, Ojo-Giwa, Binuyo, Oroyinyin and other areas in Lagos Island following the flooding of the areas due to ongoing constructions saying that the pumping station would allow the construction work to continue unabated in other areas.
“We apologise, and we are still apologising. The inconvenience is temporary for us to give a permanent solution to what has become a disturbing phenomenon on Lagos Island for a while,” the commissioner added.
The commissioner also took a walk to the Oja Oba and Adeniji Adele bridge to know the extent of work done to discharge the stormwater into the lagoon.
Wahab said the project would likely be completed in two years and appealed to Lagos Island residents to be patient.
“The project will be in phases, which will be between nine, 15, 18 and 24 months,” he said.
The commissioner, meanwhile, appealed to residents to dispose of their waste properly to avoid floods.
“No need to throw them into the drainage system. It’s a recipe for a crisis beyond flooding, health challenges, and other things.
“On our part, we keep doing the advocacy and also enforce and sanction people that are not ready to comply and are just outrightly incorrigible. So, that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
