…As Obaseki, Govt. Bag two Tech Awards
By Nosakhare Agbonigiarhuoyi
The Edo State Government has charged communities that have requested for roads in their domains to make provisions for lands that will serve as discharge points for rainfall run-off.
Speaking to journalists after the weekly Executive Council Meeting held at Government House on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, Commissioner for Roads and Bridges, Engr. Newton Okojie, explained that the EXCO chaired by Governor Godwin Obaseki, decided that going forward, any community that requests the State government to construct roads in their domains must provide a discharge point for the rainfall run-off.
Okojie said: “Between 2019 and now, over 200 roads have been requested by different communities from the Governor and he has graciously forwarded all the road construction requests to my ministry for action.
“We have actually gone over all the roads that people had written to the Governor to construct, and we have come up with virtually the same problem on 90 per cent of the roads, and that problem is the issue of a drainage discharge point.
“Most of the communities that had natural drainages; those drainages have been blocked by one development or the other; lands have been sold, they have been bought, filled up and put to use and those lands are actually the natural drainage paths.
“Now that we want to put a road there, there is nowhere to take the rain run-off. It’s a problem that has defied solutions on every side.”
He added: “Erroneously, most people believe that when you have such a problem that an underground drain will solve it. But we have come to discover that underground drain can only solve it where the topography permits.
“In some areas, we discovered that the road level that we want to construct is even lower than the invert level of the bottom of the moat in most cases where you have a moat nearby. So it becomes impossible for us to discharge rain runoff.
“So EXCO today has graciously agreed and approved that any community, going forward, that is requesting the Edo State Government to construct roads in their community must provide a discharge point for the rainfall runoff.
“If that discharge point is not available, the State will have to decline construction of such roads, because sometimes, we have seen protests here and there that the government brought water into their community by reason of wanting to construct their roads. This is basically because there is nowhere for the runoff to go, and the government cannot swallow the water.”
Also at the EXCO Meeting, the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr. Bartholomew Brai, who represented the Governor at the recent Titans of Tech Awards in Lagos, said the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, was honored with the Digital Economy Compliance Governor of The Year Award by the Tech TV Media Group while the State Government bagged the Digital Economy Compliance State of the Year Award at the tech event.
Presenting the Awards to the Governor, the Commissioner said the awards amplified the State Government’s commitment to excellent service delivery using digital technology.
Speaking at the Titans of Tech Awards ceremony in Lagos at the weekend, Don Pedro Aganbi, described the technology event as a platform dedicated to recognizing the achievements, successes and triumphs of key stakeholders across the entire digital technology spectrum.
Furthermore, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Obehi Akoria, gave an update to EXCO on the State Government’s efforts at tackling Lassa Fever, Covid-19, Monkeypox and Marburg diseases.
She charged residents of the State to continually apply necessary precautions so as to stay safe and call for the intervention of the state public health services where necessary.
