Community Development Committee (CDC),Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, on Sunday commended the state government for clearing drains and other water channels in communities affected by floods in the area.
Mr Olubowale Kasunmu ,CDC Chairman of the LCDA ,gave the commendation during the monthly CDC meeting in Agbado Oke-Odo.
Areas such as Aboru, Ikola and others in the LCDA recently experienced massive flooding.
This prompted the state government to begin clearing of water drains, canals and other water channels to arrest the situation and forestall a recurrence.
Kasumu described the state government’s dredging efforts in the affected areas as timely and impactful.
“The seriousness of the flooding situation in Aboru, Ikola and Ajasa areas of the LCDA cannot be over emphasized, but we commend the dredging efforts of the state government.
“We informed residents that some engineers were sent from the state secretariat Alausa to inspect the confluence and work has started in the area,” he said.
According to him, the master plan of the LCDA will be reviewed by the joint Community Development Association (CDA) to effect some corrections in some of the affected areas.
Kasunmu also advised residents to shun indiscriminate dumping of refuse in drains to put an end to perennial flooding in the LCDA
He also appealed to the residents to pay their Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) refuse collection levies promptly and report non performing PSP operators(refuse collectors) to the appropriate quarters.
The chairman said that the CDC had received a letter of increment in the PSP levy in the LCDA adding that efforts would be put in place to ascertain the details of increment.
“We are expecting the LAWMA officials from the state secretariat to explain the PSP levy increment in the community,” he said.
Mrs Ramat Sanni, an Official with the Community Action Against Plastic Waste,an advocacy group, also advised the residents to separate plastic and nylon from other waste materials so as not to blocking the drainage channels.
According to her, plastic and nylon waste materials can last up to 100000 years without decaying.
“These nylon and plastic materials are hazardous to our health and that of the aquatic.
“When the aquatic stocks eat up the nylon, they transfer the remnants to human who consume them and this is the cause of some of our ailments such as cancer and others,” Sanni said.
She said that a German institute was planning to train the residents in the LCDA on how to turn plastic wastes to money.
The state government has warned owners of all structures on drainage alignments and setbacks in the state to relocate to higher grounds.
The state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tunji Bello, gave the warning recently following reports of flooding in some areas of the state.
He said that many of such buildings had already been marked in various communities for contravention of drainage alignments ,adding that they might soon be demolished.
