Sanwo-Olu approves creation of tertiary drains squad

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-olu has approved the creation of the Tertiary Drains Squad (TDS) in the 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas in the state.

This was made known on Wednesday by the Special Adviser on Drainage and Water Resources Engr. Joe Igbokwe at the second edition of stakeholders meeting with LGs/LCDAs on Cleaning and Maintenance of Tertiary Drains in Lagos State.

According to Igbokwe, the Squad will complement the Emergency Flood Abatement Gang already existing at the state level to ensure that tertiary drains properly discharge into primary and secondary drains.

While urging the Council authorities to think big but start small, he explained that with the employment of 50 drainage attendants that would be paid a minimum of N35,000 monthly, the councils would spend less but achieve more, compared to what they presently spend to clean tertiary drains.

He added that there is no straight-jacketed approach to implementing the directives of Mr Governor, but each council must adopt the strategy that suits it.

Meanwhile, he reiterated that the stakeholders meeting is one of the proactive measures put in place to have synergy between the State and Local Governments in terms of interdependence as it affects drainage channels

However, he declared that it’s high time that LG/LCDAs take ownership of tertiary drains to reduce the pressure of desilting and cleaning the secondary and primary channels where the State Government has continued to engage human and financial resources.

“I am confident that this second forum will allow us to agree on best practices to resolve all the issues concerning the cleaning and maintenance of tertiary drains which are the drains that run across our tenements and how Local Councils should be at the forefront of monitoring and compelling residents to clean the tertiary drains across the state,” he said.

According to Igbokwe, the meeting was consummated to sensitize Local Governments, their administrators as well as stakeholders to map out a new course on cleaning tertiary drains and proffer solutions to foreseeable challenges.

He stated this inform why the state government invited the major dramatis personae in the Local Council which include the Council Engineers, Head of Environment and Council Managers amongst others to evolve strategic methods to improve the environment and ensure a flood-free society.

He commended the enormous efforts of the Emergency Flood Abatement Gangs (EFAG), employed by the State Government and deployed to undertake quick fixes to free manholes or clogged up tertiary drains across the State.

Thereafter, he appealed to Lagosians to always report cases of drainage blockages, indiscriminate dumping of waste into canals and other unauthorized places to the state Government.

Residents are to make use of the CITIMONITOR APP from Google play store and IStore to report any environmental infraction across the state.