Ikeja traders want govt to work on water channels, now

Residents andtraders onAwolowo road, Ikeja, have called on the Lagos State government to expand the drainage system in the area to avoid flooding during the rainy season.Some of the traders who spoke with Community News lamented that they lost property worth millions of naira to flooding between April and October this year.Mr Pius Anyandike, an electronic dealer, advised that the Department of Drainage Services in the State Ministry of the Environment should use the opportunity of the dry season to work on the drainage system in the area to take care of flooding during the rainy season.'We lost property worth millions of naira to serious flooding that engulfed the area between April and October. So, now that we are in dry season, government should seize the opportunity to work on the drainage and water channels in the area'.Anyandike explained that the present drainage system in the area was too small to accommodate the volume of water during the rainy season, hence the need for the state government to expand the drainages to accommodate the volume of water.'This is the best opportunity for the state government to start working on the drainages. We don't pray to encounter the kind of problem we had last year. People died, and some people were washed away. We appeal to the state to do something fast before the commencement of another rainy season. We have respite now and I think this is the best period to start the expansion.'Also, Mrs. Ruth Ayinla, a resident of Ikeja told Community News that there was need for state and local government to embark on serious public enlightenment campaign to educate people on the dangers of blocking drainages and water channels.Mrs Ayinla lamented that most of the wastes generated by the people usually ended up in the gutters and water channels, hence the problem of flooding during rainy season.'There is urgent need for the state government to do serious campaign against activities of the people relating to the disposal of their waste.'Most pure water nylon, empty cans etc usually end up blocking the water channels. So, people most be told on how to dispose off their waste properly'.Meanwhile, the residents of Old Ota road in Agege area of Lagos State have been commending the Federal Government for the massive drainage construction to help curb problem of flooding.The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) is doing a massive construction to widen the water channels. The efforts, some of the residents claimed, would go a long way to curb the problem of flooding in the Agege areas of the state.
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