Edo State Government cannot be stampede now into the construction of Textile Mill/ Uwelu/Evbareke Road, the state Deputy Governor, Rt Hon Comrade Philip Shaibu has said.
He revealed this at a meeting in his office with leadership of the market unions led by Comrade Omoregbe Eboigboden with the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Sustainability, Engr Osahon Aniolemen in attendance. This was a fallout of the Monday protest embarked upon by traders and residents of the communities.
The Deputy Governor did not mince words when he said that ” we know what you people are passing through and other commuters plying these roads. As much as government is very willing to construct the roads, we cannot be rushed into doing something that will not last. We want to do good job, something solid that can stand the test of time and this is not the time to do it. He added that there was going to be a town hall meeting of all stakeholders in the affected communities and tell them of the need imbibe maintenance culture.
The Deputy Governor reminded the union leaders that the present state of the roads in their communities was not the making of the APC government, rather, it was the result of the 10 decades of decadence of the PDP government in the state.
He however said palliative work will be carried out on the roads pending when the rains subside to embark on a durable and proper construction.
On his part, the Commissioner for Infrastructure, corroborated the assurances of the Deputy Governor, saying that the designs for the roads have been completed. ” That is the starting point, we are only waiting for the rains to stop and we start full scale construction of the roads,” he said. According to the Commissioner, ” work on the design including the primary drains from Textile Mill Read, down to Iyaro and finally empty the flood water into the Ipkoba River are ready, we are only waiting for the rains”.
It would be recalled that traders and residents of Textile Mill Road, Evbareke and Uwelu stormed the streets on Monday, carrying placards in an attempting draw government toothed depliyrable roads in their communities. The Deputy Governor ran into the protesters on his way from the training session with Bendel Insurance Football Club at UNIBEN. He embarked on a long trek with the protesters back to the Evbareke where he addressed them, with assurances to meet the leadership.
