By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-About 5,000 Residents of a community in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Council Development Authority (LCDA), Agege area of Lagos State may lose lives and Billions of Naira in Property due to an approved Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) construction of the Iju Water Works road.
Residents of the area say that their current predicament was the fault of Laralek Ultimate Ventures Limited, Contractor to the project accused of diverting water from Fagba, Iju and environs to the open drain in the community which has left a dangerous gorge in the area.
Ebenezer Alao Odeyemi, Spokesperson and Chairman of the Alade Bucknor Community Development Area (CDA) said by the time Residents of the area packed in about 14 years ago, the place was covered with vegetation, no landslide.
“By the time the landowners started to sell, they sold beyond the solid ground and coming to sell very close to the Gorge. Eventually when the Road construction was being made, they had to divert the water from Fabga area into this Gorge which has made the whole thing worse†Odeyemi said.
“This side of the road and the other side, the Fabga area of Iju Water Works Road were diverted to this area and anytime there is rain, it is a disaster. This is what we are experiencing now†he said.
However, a visit to the area by www.investadvocateng.com shows that some houses had already caved in and others especially a Church and a Telecommunications Company’s Mast are being threatened.
According to him, the current construction has not being up to a year and the Residents had spoken and appealed to the Contractor “and when he felt reluctant to listen to us we went to LAMATA†Odeyemi said.
Two letters by the Alade/Bucknor CDA to LAMATA was made available to www.investadvocateng.com drawing the attention of the Authority to the danger posed by the drainage construction. One dated May 14 2010 with title RE: DRAINAGE CONSTRUCTION AT ALADE CLOSE, IFAKO BY LARALEK ULTIMATE VENTURES LIMITED reads thus:
“We hereby draw your attention to a serious problem posed by the recent drainage construction at Alade Close, off Iju Road, Ifako.
Sometime in January this year, our former Secretary, i.e Mr. Bayo Lawal made a verbal report of this matter to Mr. Biodun Fajobi of your Organisation, who promised to look into the case. Unfortunately, we did not get any feedback before Mr. Bayo Lawal died in March this year. We have just discovered that the contractors handling the project have left the site without paying any attention to our complaints, which are as follows:
The terminal point at which the drainage discharges water into the gorge has been left uncompleted and this can lead to dangerous erosion into the nearby buildings in the future. There is need for an embankment that can prevent such erosion. In addition, the drainage needs to be covered to prevent safety hazards, since this is a fully residential area, where small children play around from time to time.
We have repeatedly drawn the attention of the site Engineers to the problems, but they did not heed our warning before leaving the site. This makes the whole thing an uncompleted project, which does not take into considered the safety and well being of the people living in the area.
We are therefore, appealing to you to pay a visit to the site with a view to compelling the contractor to do their job in such a way that the Yaya-Abatan situation will not repeat itself at Alade Close.
Your prompt action on this matter will be highly appreciated. The letter was signed by Chief Odeyemi , Chairman of Alade/ Bucknor CDA and Adetukasi, Chairman Alade Residents Association.
In another letter, dated July 14, 2011, addressed to the Managing Director of LAMATA, titled RE: DRAINAGE CONSTRUCTION AT ALADE CLOSE, IFAKO BY LARALEK ULTIMATE VENTURES LIMITED and made available to www.investadvocateng.com the Alade/Bucknor CDA are fearing that with further heavy rains, the area surrounding the outlet of the drainage may finally collapse due to high volume of water flowing in from other parts of Iju Road as it has been forecast by Meteorologist that the rains are not yet over for this year.
The letter reads thus:
“Please refer to our letter dated 14th 2010 in respect of the above subject matter-copy attached.
During our visit to your office we had discussion with Engineer Kingsley who promised to discuss the issue with your Management. We have since made a number of phone calls during which we were assured that the matter would be looked into.
With the heavy rains we are having this year, the area surrounding the outlet of the drainage is collapsing rapidly because of the high volume of water flowing in from other parts of Iju Road. It is now very clear that an embankment should be constructed urgently to avoid destruction of lives and properties in the area. Members of the community are becoming increasingly apprehensive. Please find attached some photographs which can give you an idea of the seriousness of the situation.
Our representatives have been asked to deliver this letter to your office personally and seek your urgent intervention.
Your prompt action on this matter will be highly appreciated. The letter was also signed by the signees of the first one.
Dayo Mobereola , the Managing Director/ CEO of LAMATA in a reaction letter to the CDA, dated August 3, 2011, said the contractor, Messrs Laralek Ultimate Limited, has been instructed to immediately stone-pitch the eroded embankment from the outlet of the collector drain to the foot of the gorge.
According to him, the measure will stop the embankment from further sliding/erosion and however solicited the Residents cooperate with the contractor during the execution of the project.
However, as at the time of filling in this Report, www.investadvocateng.com was unable to contact officials of LAMATA and up until now nothing has been done.
The area affected include, Alade close one (1), Alade close two (2), Nelson Cole Avenue, Bucknor Estate, all with over 5,000 occupants right in the heart of Agege Ifako Ijaiye local Government.
