Kunle Adelabu
The representative of Ikorodu Constituency II, Hon. Aro Moshood Abiodun (AMA) has expressed his dissatisfaction at the slow pace of work on the 1.1km Ilupeju Road project in Ijede that he facilitated last year and charged the contractor handling it to ensure quality work and timely delivery
The project which is the construction of drainage system on both sides of the road that has its starting point beside the Ijede Cemetery and running into the Ilupeju Community and construction of the road, started last year in June and was supposed to be delivered in 12 months. The construction was stopped for some months (and work only just resumed recently), due to disagreement with the state lawmaker and residents over the contractor’s plan to construct drainage deep into the ground on one side when the construction encountered problems and the contractor removed the surface of the road to level with the drainage.
According to Hon. AMA, the contractor is returning back to site after the intervention of the Office of Rural Development which awarded the contract and the agreement that the contractor would find a solution round the challenges which would be in tandem with the expectations of the lawmaker and residents of the community who have expressed serious challenges they are going to face if the construction is allowed to go in line with the contractor’s original plans.
The state lawmaker who visited the project for on -the – spot – assessment while going round projects that he has facilitated in Ijede last week, also got the commitment of the representative of the contractor that the project would be delivered in December 2026.
“Now that they are back on site, I will not let them rest. I will ensure that I visit every week to monitor their work. What I have been doing before now is to make sure that I put everything in order at the state level.
“But now that I am very confident that they have released the funds to the contractor, I will definitely monitor their progress and ensure that the needful is done and that we achieve good results with the funds released by the Lagos State Government.”
Explaining the delay in the projects, AMA said: “What had actually delayed the construction work was my disagreement with the contractor to cut down the surface of the road to be at the same level with the drainage that they constructed deep into the ground which I and residents objected to, but now they have agreed to construct the drainage to the level of the road.
“This is the only way to ensure that people’s properties are not threatened, though, they will be cutting off a bit of the surface but not to the extent of preventing people from moving into their residences or making it so difficult to access their houses,” AMA said.
He also assured the community leaders and residents that the drainage on the side where it is constructed deep down into the ground would be covered.
The lawmaker complained about the slow pace of work since the contractor’s resumption back on site and charged the contractors to improve on its pace to meet the December delivery date. He also urged them to ensure that there is palliative measure whereby the road is graded and leveled to ensure easy access for residents.
Site engineers speaking, said that the construction work which started last year stopped when a problem was detected concerning the drainage construction and assured that they have resumed to correct the issue and deliver a quality road for the community.
They explained how the waste water would flow from one side of the drainage to the other which serves as the outfall.
They also explained that they have re-profiled the side of the drainage where they are faced with challenges and also come up with solutions with the new Director at the Office of Rural Development, who is handling the project.
The site engineers gave assurance to the lawmaker and community representatives present that the project would be completed and delivered by December, adding that they have all the construction materials ready for the project.
While assuring the lawmaker that the road would be made motorable in good time based on his complaint, engineers at the site also informed him that they have created an alternative route for residents to use while the construction is going on.
