Iyere Community Appeals To Ondo Govt To Complete Ongoing School Projects

By Niyi Olutunde, Akure

Residents of Iyere Community in Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State has appealed to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu led administration not to abandon any ongoing projects in their community primary school, Ayoride Baptist Primary School.

Chairman, Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Mr Olatoye Saibu, made the appeal at the weekend during a town hall meeting held in the community with the Connected Development, an Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) from Abuja.

Saibu, who appealed to government to expedite action on the project so that it could be delivered as soon as possible for the betterment of their pupils, said the previous government had abandoned projects in the school.

His words, “We are appealing to government that what happened during the previous administrations should not repeat itself because the projects have been abandoned for almost three months now.

“Our pupils are being taught under the tree and some are taken to nearby church premises to study, which is not conducive enough for learning.

“Even last week, a snake bit one of our pupils here when they were receiving lecture under the tree and it took grace of God for the child to survive it”.

Speaking in the same vein, Mr Omotola Ebenezer, also a leader in the area, called on government to save lives of their pupils by facilitating the work.

“Some politicians came from Akure to see the project but up till today, nothing has been done. Our children are still staying in dilapidated building.

“It is alarming for us to start waiting for good three to four months without seeing any development being carried out by contractor. This is bad.

“I met with the headmaster sometime ago and he was complaining that he didn’t even know the contractors, which makes tracing them a serious problem.

“Though, I believe that when the project is completed, the suffering of today will become enjoyment of tomorrow and our people will enroll their pupils in the school, Ebenezer noted.

According to him, the school is using only two classrooms at the moment instead of six as the contractor has demolished the other four.

Mr Chambers Umezulike, Senior Programme Manager in Connected Development, said that the NGO would do its best to see that the projects are completed as scheduled by the government.

Umezulike noted that the project were under the 2014/2015 Conditional Grant Scheme and implemented by the state government.

“Our findings show that government has approved drilling of motorised borehole, constructionof school toilet with cargo texture, construction of a block of six classroom, provision of 2.5 kvh solar power inverter with solar system and construction of perimeter fencing of the school.

“Actually, we learnt that fund has already been approved while the contractor handling it has been mobilised by the state government.

“We are going to follow up on the issues to the end to know what really happened to the abandon projects.