Potholes on Oyo roads will disappear, Makinde assures

Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, has issued a marching order to the Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA) to fix all potholes on roads in the state.

Makinde gave the order, on Tuesday, shortly after meeting with the management of OYSROMA at its head office, Eleyele, Ibadan.

The governor asked residents of the state to look forward to the disappearance of potholes on their roads, in line with its earlier ‘zero potholes’ mandate.

The governor said he discovered that funding was one of the issues, assuring that the government would provide the needed funding to ensure that potholes on the roads are filled.

Makinde further held that the number of potholes across the state increased with the present rainfall.

Makinde said: “We have to keep fixing the potholes. The people of Oyo State should expect to see most of the potholes disappear. The OYSROMA has promised me that Zero Pothole is possible in Oyo State.

“I have asked them for their proposal, and I have also asked them to give me who I should hold accountable. They have given me the individual I should hold accountable, and I will do that.

“You know, with the rain, we are having a lot of our roads developing potholes and also failing. OYSROMA is the government agency saddled with the responsibility of fixing the roads, and I have been wondering what they were doing.

So, I came to have an understanding of the challenges and also to encourage them to do what they are supposed to do.

“Now, we have some of our roads that will be completely rebuilt, and there are also others that we will only have to intervene. For those who need only intervention, it will be done by OYSROMA. So, we have to give them everything they need to carry out that function.”

Furthermore, he promised to ensure that the road maintenance agency works hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Environment to address the challenge of residents dumping refuse indiscriminately under hydraulic structures fixed by OYSROMA.

“In my interaction with OYSROMA, they mentioned a few things. One of them is that they might go somewhere to rehabilitate a hydraulic structure, but before it rains, people go out there, and dump refuse there.

“So, I said we will have them collaborate with the Ministry of Environment to ensure that once hydraulic structures are rehabilitated, people don’t go there dumping refuse indiscriminately.

“There was also the issue of funding. We approved some money for OYSROMA before now, and we thought they spent it anyhow. I only just found out that just a portion of the money was released to them.

“So, we will go back to the Accountant-General to ask why the fund was not released, and if they are also having challenges, we would know how to address it,” Makinde added.