27th February, 2012
The Lagos House of Assembly has hailed Governor Babatunde Fashola and the Ministry of the Environment for their all encompassing deflooding programmes.
Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji after the presentation of the environment ministry on its programme to deflood the state ahead of the rains, said the government had shown it was prepared for the raining season.
The assembly had invited the Commissioner for the Environment to explain the preparation of the government to combat flood in the raining season.
Bello, in his e- presentation, titled: Plans of the Ministry of the Environment to Maintain Primary, Secondary and Some Tertiary Collectors for the year 2012, showcased what the government was doing to combat flood during the raining season.
The strategy adopted, according to the commissioner, was to identify all the flood prone areas in the state, after which the ministry embarked on massive cleaning, maintenance and dredging of all collectors across the state.
“This is further complemented by the drainage maintenance officers and emergency flood abatement department with their all year learning programme, which explains the reason why the state is not heavily flooded in spite of the high intensity of the rains recorded last year “because our channels were working.”
“Other strategies adopted include liaison with Ogun/Oshun River Basin Authority on the modality to release water from Oyan/Ikere Gorge. All these strategies assisted a great deal in minimising the incidence of flooding in the state.”
On this year’s programme, Bello said the ministry had put in place three semester flood management programme, that included pre-rain work programme, mid-rain programme and post rain programme, while the Emergency flood Abatement Department (EFAD)/Drainage Maintenance Officers would complement this programme throughout the years.
“The strategy for this year, which has already commenced include: maintenance / dredging of primary collectors across the state, periodic maintenance/cleaning of secondary collectors across the state, ensure completion of ongoing construction, maintenance, cleaning of drainage projects before the rains and appointment of resident engineers for each local government in the state, among others.
Deputy Speaker, Kolawole Taiwo commended the presentation, and acknowledged the presence of drainage projects in his constituency, while canvassing for a comprehensive deflooding programme for his constituency.
Olowo Emmanuel (Shomolu) equally acknowledged the presence of the Ministry of the Environment in his constituency, and commended his presentation of the deflooding programme, but urged him to ensure that his area enjoyed more of the ministry’s projects.