Kunle Adelabu
The Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Works & Infrastructures, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye, during a tour of the ongoing road projects in Ikorodu Division on Wednesday (yesterday), said that the ongoing Itamaga – Ijede road has been 65% completed.
She assured residents of Ikorodu that the Arab Contractors handling the 6.1km dual carriage way project with rigid pavement, will deliver the road by April.
Engr. Aramide stated that the contract, which was initially scheduled to take 14 months and ought to have been completed, has been given a six months extension but due to #EndSARS and COVID – 19 pandemic.
“It is one of the roads that this administration started to embark upon giving the hue and cry of the citizenry on the kind of road that we have prior to 2019.
“The contract was awarded with a 14 months completion period. Right now, we should have completed it but for the #EndSARS and COVID – 19 that brought about the need to work in a particular manner. So, the contractor has an extension of six months which means that come April, this project will be ready for delivery”, Engr. Aramide said.
“As we speak, the drainage structure is about 80 to 90% completed and in some areas, they have had the semi – interlocking stones completed, asphalt is almost completed and overall, the project is 65% completed”, she added.
She said that with the rate the work is going on, there will be no reason for the residents of the area and other road users to worry about flooding when the rain commences.
“The drainage structure alone is about 90% completed. What this means is that people can heave a sigh of relief with the coming of the rain”, she assured.
“There used to be a bad location along the road called ChongFI petrol station and people living in this axis can attest to the fact that anytime its rain, it’s always hotspot as ground flooded, but the road is good and you can even see the bigger picture of where we are going in some months’ time.”
Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, the representative of the Ikorodu Constituency I at the Lagos State House of Assembly who was part of the tour, said that what he saw is commendable.
“The work done so far is commendable. Commendable in the sense that before the construction, we had a lot of issues with this road. Some portions of it were also flooded and usually made people suffer.
“On this road, we have about 30 communities all the way to Ijede and this is the only access road to get to their respective communities and the problem was so much”.
He said that there were fears on how traffic in the area would be managed before the construction started due to the heavy vehicular traffic along Itamaga – Ijede road but gave the government and the contractor kudos for the way that they have been able to handle the traffic.
“When they wanted to start the road, the fear was how will they manage the road because of its traffic? But the traffic has been managed very well”, Hon. Agunbiade said.
He said that the ongoing construction is an improvement on previous works done in Ikorodu by the Arab Contractors.
Agunbiade also commended the contractor for the way the ChongF1 petrol station axis that used to be a nightmare for residents and road users, has been handled.
“When you look at the quality of the work done so far, this is an improved construction compared to other quality work done at Ibeshe by Arab Contractors. We would enjoy it more and it will be able to withstand that traffic and vehicular density of this area.
“When the road was still bad, people in the ChongF1 area wrote petitions and letters appealing that the contractor should take cognizance of the peculiarity of that place. We have been there and I am satisfied with what I saw, though, I am not an Engineer but at least, I know that with the quality of job done there met my expectations”, he said.
“The expectation is that at the end of the construction, a lot of people will heave a sigh of relief, particularly the Baale of Omitoro who is the Chairman of the Council of Baales in Ikorodu who is very particularly concerned about the road”.
The Majority Leader of the Lagos Assembly also thanked the administration of Mr Babajide Sanwo – Olu for responding to the hues and cries of Ikorodu people by awarding the contract of the road which had broken down completely prior to its ongoing reconstruction.
“We assure them in 2019 when we came to this area to campaign that the road would be done by the government of Lagos State known for its proactiveness and responsiveness and we thank God that a few years into the administration, this has been done for us in Ikorodu.
“We thank the government for that. I am satisfied with what I have seen and I feel so satisfied that I am part of this inspection because it afforded me the opportunity to know if anything has been done to some of the complaints of the constituents.
“Almost all the complaints have been taken care of”.
Engr. Lateef Somide, Lagos State Public Works Corporation, the supervisory agency, was on ground to conduct the Majority Leader, Special Adviser and Permanent Secretary round the project during the tour.
