.GOVT MOBILISES CONTRACTORS TO REPAIR BAD PORTIONS
The Deputy Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Hakeem Jamiu, has assured residents and travellers that the state government would not sleep or rest until roads that are in dilapidated conditions are repaired.
Jamiu said some contractors have been moved to the bad spots on the roads that have been giving users nightmares while traffic has been diverted to some routes as parts of measures to give room to repair works on the affected roads.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday on what is being done to give relief to road users in the state, the Deputy Speaker said government was doing everything within its power to fix the bad roads within the shortest possible time while appealing for patience from members of the public.
The Deputy Speaker who is also the Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Works and Transportation disclosed that he has held meetings with state and federal agencies concerned with road maintenance to save the situation.
He listed the sites where contractors are presently working to include Ado-Iworoko Road, collapsed bridge between Ipole Iloro and Efon, failed bridge at Ilawe end of Igede-Ilawe Road, failed portion on Okemesi Road, Ado-Igede-Aramoko-Itawure Road and Ifaki-Oye-Ayebode Road.
Jamiu added that while the damage caused by landslide on Ado-Ilawe Road is being attended to by experts, work cannot be completed in a hurry as ecological tests are being conducted within the five kilometer radius before the road can be reconstructed.
He said an alternative route is being constructed as a temporary measure to accommodate light vehicles and not trucks along that axis to allow road users connect Ilawe from Ado and vice versa.
The legislator representing Irepodun/Ifelodun Constituency 2 in the Ekiti Assembly said government was not ready to give excuses on the failed roads hence the decision to bring the contractors to sites to effect repairs for the benefit of the people.
He appealed to some individuals in the state not to make a political capital out of the bad conditions of roads noting that the situation was caused by a combination of diversion of trailers to Ekiti roads, natural occurrences and federal government’s warning to states against rehabilitating federal roads and asking for refund after.
The Deputy Speaker stressed that the commitment of the Governor Kayode Fayemi led administration to road construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation has never been in doubt judging by its intervention in the sector with the inauguration of many road projects in the last three years.
Jamiu said: “It is unfortunate that the roads are bad now but government is not sleeping over this as all hands are on deck to fix the roads as soon as possible. Contractors are on site at the bad spots as I am speaking while traffic has been diverted to some routes while repair work is going.
“I want our people in Ekiti State to know that it is our interstate roads which are mostly federal that are bad while our internal roads remain the best in the Southwest even as we speak.”
“I had interface with all agencies concerned with road maintenance in the state including federal agencies and I have facts about our roads. It is the pressure on our roads by articulated vehicles that have abandoned bad federal roads elsewhere and diverted their routes to Ekiti that are responsible.
“To make matters worse, Ekiti federal roads are also bad. For many years, our roads in Ekiti have not experienced such heavy traffic from transiting articulated vehicles all over the country as they are experiencing now and this has put a lot of pressure on the (Ekiti) roads.
“Also, the weather did not help as torrential rains have caused many bridges to collapse. There is also landslide in some areas which is a natural occurrence. I know our people are not interested in listening to all these reasons and that is why government is doing all within its power to fix the bad spots.
“The federal government does not also help matters with its refusal to allow state governments fix federal roads and get reimbursed.
“Despite the above, it is not in doubt that Ekiti still has the best internal road network in the Southwest and this is verifiable. We have some good internal roads newly reconstructed by JKF (Fayemi) which we protected with barriers and loads of sands.
“These include Ibuji-Igbara Odo Road, Ilupeju-Ire-Igbemo-Ijan Road, Erijiyan-Aramoko Road, Agbado-Ode-Isinbode-Omuo Road, Oye-Iye-Ikun-Otun Road and new Ado-Iyin Road.
“JKF is neither a saint nor a superhuman being, but even his adversaries will agree that he has left Ekiti better than he met it pre-2010 and pre-2018. JKF’s achievements in health, education, agriculture, social investment and water infrastructure are verifiable.
“No government can do it all and no government anywhere in the world can stop natural occurrences like landslide and torrential rainfall. I wish to implore is to always remove bile from criticism so that we can be objective.
“JKF has tried his best and in few days, he will leave the stage for his successor, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji (BAO) who will take the baton and do the needful. Without any iota of doubt, JKF has finished well.”