Lagos State Government on Wednesday tasked all Local Government Councils to do more to ensure maintenance and cleanliness of all tertiary drains in their domain.
The task was given by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Mr Tunji Bello while addressing participants at a stakeholders meeting on maintenace of tertiary drains held at the LCCI Conference Centre, Alausa.
Tunji Bello told the gathering that included some local Government chairmen that maintenance of tertiary drains could also be used to generate employment.
He stated that it is about being creative and that some unemployed youths in the localities can be engaged to clear the drains and also maintain it at a cost that would not be prohibitive.
He frowned at the present situation where the state is still being forced to maintain tertiary drains in addition to the primary and secondary drains.
He stressed the need for all the Council Chairmen to monitor and put pressure on respective tenements in their areas to regularly maintain and clean all tertiary drains across the state.
He added that environmental health officers at the Local Government levels must be also be sensitized while their number is increased to effectively monitor the compliance level of residents in terms of cleaning of tertiary drains.
He said the Emergency Flood Abatement Gang (EFAG) has been responsible for cleaning several tertiary drains and black spots round the state adding that they function as the quick response arm of the state Government and have in freeing several clogged up drains from waste and silts.
He revealed that on a weekly basis, the EFAG team works on about 6,547 meters of tertiary drain channels round the state and had cleaned up tertiary drains measuring about 307.7 kilometers across the state since EFAG was reintroduced in October 2019.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Drainages and Water Resources, Engr. Joe Igbokwe commended the initiative for the meeting.
He stated that the meeting would create avenues on how better synergy can be created between the State and Local Governments.
He expressed optimism that the Local Councils would going forward compliment the activities of EFAG in maintaining tertiary drains more than they are presently doing.
He said Lagos has remained largely flood free all year long due to the efforts of the Office of Drainage Services which is still ongoing.
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