The contractor handling the Moniya-Iseyin road yesterday began repair works on the flooded section of the road, as instructed by the state government after the heavy downpour that led to the rising of rivers along the route.
The step was as a result of complaints from motorists plying the road, whose movements were restricted by the flood that crossed the road, which prompted the officials of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to embark on an immediate inspection tour to the area to assess the level of damage on the affected area.
The road which was commissioned in May 2021 has been a relief to the people of Oke-Ogun and its environs as it has allowed them to travel within less period from Ibadan to Iseyin, as different from the situation before the reconstruction.
While addressing newsmen during the inspection at chinage 47.750km of the road, the Commissioner for Public Works and Transport, Professor Dahud Kehinde Sangodoyin made it known that the cause of the damages was a result of the continuous heavy rain due to climate change and that It was not particular to only Oyo State, but all over the world.
The Commissioner explained that “we were informed that during the heavy downpour on Thursday and Friday, there were some issues as the water overflew and caused some damages by the side road, we are here to examine and assess what happened and what can be done.
The Commissioner said, “The first thing discovered is the overflow because the culverts there have been sealed up by mud, then the chainage that should be able to address the free flow of water has a problem on the other side of the road, it is not new because there is climate change all over the world, so we should prepare for it, not only in Oyo State but Nigeria as a whole.
“Work will start on it today. On the right-hand side, the channelization and on the left-hand side, retaining the walls and shifting of the culvert, in the long term, during the dry season, if we find out from the weather forecast that we will have a heavy rainfall like this next year we will have to change the size of the culvert.
“The Consultant and the contractor are with me to assess it together and we found out that it is not a serious issue but climate change that is affecting everybody all over the world, including vegetation and other things.
“I have instructed the contractor to mobilise their machine immediately so that the work can start on the channelisation and to retain the wall. I can assure you that the work will start before we finish the inspection. I am assuring our people that our road is intact as it was when commissioned last year. The only damage there is on the shoulder and from today, work will start on it so that it will not hit on the road.”
The team also extended the inspection to the ongoing construction of the Iseyin-Ogbomoso-Fapote road to see the progress of the project, where the commissioner told reporters that the project would be completed by January 2023.
He stated, “They have completed the bridge around the chainage 16.0km and we are at chainage 6.0km at the culvert which is 3 by 3, as it is now, the earthwork is almost completed up to chainage 16km. The line drain is almost completed also. They have started to put the stone base from the spur which is 2km. I have advised them to put in more effort so that the contract can be completed in January 2023. As you can see, they have completed about 20 per cent of the job at chainage 6.0km and 32.2 per cent of the job at Ogbomoso-Fapote as of last week Monday.”
Sangodoyin said that the slow pace of work is due to the persistent rainfall and that the work would be faster during the dry season with proper supervision because the government has done its part.
Buttressing the words of the Commissioner, the Consultant to the Governor on Moniya-Iseyin-Ogbomoso road construction, Engr. Wale Lagunju explained that the team has assessed the whole situation and discovered that the pavement at the flooded section of the Moniya-Iseyin road was still intact.
The Project Manager of the Construction Company, KOPEC Construction Limited, Engr Aymanza Zakhour revealed that despite what has happened, the road is intact because the work was done with standard specification.
He added that he has instructed his men to report to the construction site with machines to start the repair immediately and assured the citizenry that the work would finish in no time.
