Osun Govt Warns Residents To Desist From Blocking Drains, Declares Zero Tolerance For Potholes

By Ayobami Agboola, Osogbo

Osun State Special Adviser on Works and Transport, Engr Hussein Olatoke Olaniyan has warned residents of the state on the need to desist from blocking drains with garbage.

Olaniyan gave the warning while fielding questions from Journalists in his office, in Osogbo, the state capital said

The SA said water and Asphalt are enemies, each time the drainage gets filled with refuse, flooding extends to the main road, thereby washing off the asphalt and weakening the road.

The present administration under the leadership of Governor Gboyega Oyetola has declared zero potholes policy on all the major roads across the state.

According to him, the present administration has taken it as its mandate to ensure that all the roads in the state are motorable.

He said, the state under Osun Road Maintenance Agency, ORMA will leave no stone unturned in carrying out its responsibilities of maintaining both the local and state roads for easy movement of the people.

Olaniyan who xrayed the effort of the government to the maintenance of the roads in the state said, the present administration in the state on assumption office took precautionary measures in forestalling incessant damaging of the roads particular in the affected roads where the downpour that occured last year wrecked havoc.

He noted that, the government under the leadership of governor Adegboyega Oyetola swung into action in repairing the affected roads so the people of the area can have free access to movements.

” You could recalled that the heavy downpour in the state last year wrecked a lot of havoc on our roads, take for instance the Otan Ayegbaju road, the rain have washed away the surface of the road which resulted to the road been in deplorable stage, immediately we assumed office , we swung into actions by quickly putting the road in a shape that would be motorable”

Olaniyan who attributed the incessany damaging of our roads to negligence of our people who usually burn tires on the roads in the name of staging protest said, the tire been burnt on the road will weaken the asphalt and resulted to potholes.

He however cautioned people to stay away from burning tires on the road or repairing damaged vehicle on the road so that our roads will properly maintained.

He also warned people who usually block the road for meriments to desist from doing so for the sake of longetivity of our roads.

“We also need to educate our people and seriously warned them not to be blocking our drainages and roads, they should know that all these properties belong to all of us, they should stop burning tires on the road and also stop blocking the roads for merriments sake, all these attitude constitute damages to our roads and our health as well”

He said efforts are in pipeline to clear all the drainages to ensure free flow of waters during the rain season so that the surface of the roads will not be washed away.

” We understand that most of the challenges we have on our roads occurred as a result of poor maintenance of our roads, we are working out modalities to clean out all our drainages so that there would be free flow of water when the rain comes so that all our roads will not be washed away by water”

“We are working seriously in ensuring the construction of standard culvert to all our deplorable roads as the size of the culvert are to small to absorb the quamtom of the flow of waters in the culvert” he added.

Admonishing the inter-city motorists to adhere to the instructions of the government on bus stop, Olaniyan said, noticed of utilising bus stop by the inter-city bus have been given to them and they are to abide by it to avert enforcement by the government.

“We have engaged in talking to all the union leaders NURTW and RTEAN on the need to adhere to the instructions of the government in relocating to Ayegbaju market as their park but not all of them complied, we are still appealing to them to yield positively to the instructions given to them by the government”

“We have also made a passionate appeal to them to utilise the park allocated by the government, we have given them ultimatum to start complying in using the appointed bus stop by the government after which we will enforce the law on them, very soon the signpost of the allocated bus stop we be erected” He added.