The
residents of Badia communities in Ijora, Apapa-Iganmu Local Council
Development Area of Lagos State, have appealed to the Lagos State
Government to help complete certain road projects reportedly abandoned
in their area.
They said the neglect of the World
Bank-sponsored road projects, which also included the construction of
drainages, canal and boreholes in the communities, had compounded their
woes, especially during rainy season with heavy flood preventing them
from gaining access into their houses.
They claimed that the state government started the World Bank-sponsored projects but had abandoned them.
The Abete community leader, Alhaja
Adebisi Bello, said it was unfair for the state government to abandon
the projects, after they had been convinced to give up their buildings
to be pulled down for such road construction.
She said some of the landlords, who had
willingly allowed their buildings to be pulled down for road
construction, were now asking community leaders to rebuild their houses
since the state government had discontinued the projects.
Another community leader, Mr. Saka
Yusuf, said it would have been better for the government not to start
the project at all, lamenting that “when it rains, our children can’t go
to school because of the flood.”
It was observed that many of the roads
were in deplorable condition while some 18 renovated boreholes have not
been opened for use.
For instance, Ojora Road, formerly an access road, has become a dumpsite with heavy stench oozing out of it.
According to the community leaders, only one out of the 12 roads has been completed so far.
The community leaders also said they had
staged a protest march to the state secretariat in Ikeja to ask
Governor Babatunde Fashola to look into their plight.
They also claimed that the contractor handling the projects had stopped work due to lack of funds.
Another community leader, Mr. Kayode
Obadiah, said the latest call became necessary in view of the report
that the government’s agent handling the project, Lagos Metropolitan and
Governance Project, would cease to exist at the end of September 2013.
Obadiah said, “The government’s agent,
Lagos Metropolitan and Governance Project, handling the project is about
to wind up its activities in Lagos and we need to inform the public
that the projects in Badia have left us in a worst situation than
before.”
0 Comments