The Lagos State Government on Sunday reiterated its commitment to continuously upgrade and put in place resilient drainage infrastructure across the state.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, reaffirmed the commitment while speaking with the media after an inspection tour of various ongoing drainage projects.
He stated that the recent heavy rainfall in the new year showed that climate change and global warming are real.
He explained that officials of the ministry recently received whistleblower information about encroachment on the System 46 drainage, which necessitated the visit to the area.
He said the reported action, if not nipped in the bud, would reduce and tamper with the alignment and cause a long-term effect on the Ikota River alignment.
“We will keep ramping up our advocacy activities and upgrading our infrastructure for public use. You will also notice that the rain has not even stopped; it rained all through December to January, and we have resumed our routine activities for the year now,” he said.
He stated that the individuals involved in the encroachment had been issued a stop-work order, adding that a signpost would be erected to serve as a warning.
Wahab said the ministry also received complaints that a portion of the area at Mobil, Ikota, gets flooded, recalling that some contraventions were removed along the road on System 44 alignment two years ago.
He noted that a contractor was working on the drainage project to deflood the area.
“The upstream and the downstream have been dammed to allow the contractors to do the construction work. The contractors have been asked to hasten up the work so they can remove the dammed area and move to other areas because they have about 800 metres to complete at the upstream and about 800 metres to the Ikota River at the downstream sector,” he said.
The team also visited Ikate, where Wahab said the government had awarded contracts for drainage concrete lining and a pumping station to deflood the area.
Places visited included Ogombo Road (Wetland Sandfilling Site); LSDPC Treasure Estate, Evan Ikoku Road off Coastal Road; Lekki II–Ikota, System 44 Drainage Channel, Eti-Osa LGA; System 156 along Coastal Road; and Kusenla Drainage Channel.