…harps on the necessity of Site investigation before construction
By Olotu Henrietta
The Permanent Secretary, Edo State Ministry of Works, Engr. Dr.John Obanor has appealed to Edo People to remain calm as the basic procedures of commencing the construction of the RAMAT flyover is being observed .
Engr. Dr. Obanor stated this while addressing Newsmen in a Media parley and further stressed that the need to interface with Newsmen became necessary to avoid misleading information in the public domain.
Worried over the unending questions of when is the flyover construction going to kick off, he explained that his Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo is passionate about making life easier for Edo People as that is the reason why he initiated the flyover construction.
“The Company handling the job has been studying and carrying out preliminary investigations which will enable them to know the debt of work and ascertain how the construction will go”.
“Before you embark on road work, there are what we call ‘site investigation’ which would enable the engineer to know the dept of work to be done”.
He assured that once such investigation is completed, the flyover construction will commence in earnest.
Engr. Dr. John further disclosed that some house owners have gone ahead to erect buildings on areas that were naturally meant to allow free flow of flood which will cause flood to affect people’s properties when rain eventually starts.
“We have found out that there are areas people were not supposed to build houses on, but as we speak, houses are standing there. Instead of acting as natural receptacles of flood, they will now allow people’s properties to be flooded”. he said.
Speaking further, he said Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration is working so hard to ensure that failed roads in the state wear a new look.
He also intimated that works are currently going on in Ikakumoh road, Ekiuwa- university of Benin road, Ekehuan road, Uwelu -Uwasota road and some other parts of Edo Central of the state.
He added that instead of disseminating unverified information to the public, the doors of the Ministry are open for journalists to verify their reports before airing or publishing same.
Present at the media parley were Directors for Road Maintenance, Engr. Faith Ewanehi; Design and Consultancy, Engr. Wilson Asemota; Monitoring and Evaluation, Engr. Andrew Ehigiegba; Planning, Policy, Research and Statistics, Engr. Joseph Okhakhu; Shared Services, Engr. Sylvester Okoyomo and others.
