Lagos State Government on Friday ordered property owners who have built on the Right of Way of various drainage channels to remove them immediately or have them removed by agents of the government.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Drainage and Water Resources, Engineer Joe Igbokwe, the State government warned that the efforts at ensuring freeflow of water are being hampered by the activities of several individuals who have built across drainage channels, thus causing flooding.
He cited the specific example of Bayo Osinowo Street, near China Town Unit System, as one of such instances of flagrant disregard for the State Drainage Masterplan, stressing that all the structures along that corridor are illegal and obstruct the free flow of water in the China Town Drainage system.
Igbokwe said, “The property owners in the area have been served with contravention notices by the State government, but they have been recalcitrant and have even gone a step further by resorting to self help all in the quest to gain public sympathy”.
He described the hiring of a buggy by some of the residents of Bayo Osinowo Street to clear the canal, in what they term as “self-help” amidst media blitz as an exercise in futility, describing the action as ‘self-serving and cosmetic’.
“All the structures as presently constructed on that street are on the Right of Way of the China Town alignment, constituting the major impediment to free flow of water from the drains,” he maintained.
The Special Adviser insisted that this warning will serve as a final notice to residents of all such areas where permanent structures have been erected on the Right of Way of various channels and canals, urging culprits to remove all such structures immediately.
He reiterated the commitment of the present administration to the safety of lives and property of every resident, assuring that the government will not fold its arms and allow the activities of a few selfish and lawless individuals put the lives of millions of law-abiding citizens in peril.
While emphasising that the State will continue to deploy more men to support flood-abatement-gang operations across Lagos to complement the efforts of the main contractor, Igbokwe assured residents that the task of cleaning up all the drainage channels in the State is on course.
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