FG has not abandoned Asa River channelization - Project Director
The Project Director, Ambico Sendivian Limited, Mr. Idowu Salawu has said the cause of the floods which destroyed property worth millions of naira in Ilorin, Kwara State was not because the Federal Government abandoned the channelisation of the Asa River in the state.
In an interview with The Punch correspondent in Ilorin on Thursday, he stated that any suggestion that the Federal Government had abandoned the project was incorrect.
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed had said on Wednesday that the abandoned project was responsible for the flooding in the state.
But Salau said the project was still on course and that the Federal Government had mobilised the company for the channelisation of the Asa River.
He blamed the flood on the heavy rains currently being witnessed as a result of climate change.
He also said that some residents were in the habit of indiscriminate dumping of refuse, which blocked water channels.He added that it was also imperative to improve on the drainage channels by the road networks in Ilorin metropolis to improve free flow of water anytime it rained.
Salawu said Ambico Sendivian Limited, which is the company handling the channelisation, had cleared debris in 2.3 kilometres of the project area.
He urged the local and state governments to collaborate more with the Federal Government to address the flooding instead of the state government looking for who to blame.
He said, "The Federal Government did not abandon the channelisation of Asa River. We are on the site.
"We are not currently working because the river has overflown its banks and it has even affected our construction area for now.
"The state government should look at how to make this project successful and stop playing politics."Salawu also said that some of the residents of the state built houses on the river bank which was in violation of the Act that gave the Federal Government some kilometres of right of ways to rivers.
He stated that to give the enforcement of the law a human face, the company decided to ask those who built close the right of way to either demolish their houses or evacuate.
"We are waiting there for the state government to give us the right of way. If not, the delay in executing the contract will still continue until the state government carries out its responsibility in this regard. It is very important," Salawu said.
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