Flooding: Sanwo-Olu Orders Demolition Of Jankara, Other Markets…Govt To Inaugurate Ilubirin Pumping Station In January

By BENJAMIN OMOIKE

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has ordered the demolition of Jankara and Bombata Markets on Lagos Island of the state, noting that the regeneration of the entire Lagos Island has begun.

He hinted that Pelewura Market, also on Lagos Island, will soon be brought down after due consultation with other stakeholders.

To address the problem of flooding in the area, Sanwo-Olu, who went round Lagos Island on Sunday, said Ilubirin Pumping Station will be completed by January.

Shortly after the tour, the Governor, while addressing newsmen, said illegal occupants on the drainages and indiscriminate dumping of refuse would not be tolerated.

Sanwo-Olu said, “On this drainage and regeneration tour of Lagos Island, you have noticed the journey started from Idumagbo Avenue Corridor that once well built.

“As we were walking, you could see that at some points, the drainages were blocked, in some other places, they have built over the drainage. And you can also see the inter-locking of the roads but other roads have failed towards Odo-Giwa. The entire stretch, where we have a lot of the markets are buiit on drainages.

“Essentially, the drainage is the problem- all right down public school which was a social media hype at some points. You could see the reason why the place was flooded. The Jankara Market, we went down to Oroyinyin where we went for a water swim.

“There were roads there but the drainage has sunk. We need to do total rebuild and what this has offered is that, we need to have firsthand information what the problems are and to be able to proffer and look for solution.

“We went to Bombata Market, we saw that it cannot remain as it is. We also went to Pelewura Market which we saw has indeed outgrown a market in a modern city like our state.

“Finally, come here at Ilubirin Pumping Station. We have been on this project for almost two years and it is because of the depth of the work that has to be done . We need to complete it. On my right, you can see the manual pumping that goes directly into lagoon. On my left, we are building a proper drainage infrastructure which is 6m×1.2m. It goes all the way down to where it will be discharging.

“We are currently doing piling to be able to sink all the three pumping stations. All of them are here, generators are here and we are going to build crane that will be installed at this construction site.

“I’m told it is about 80 percent completed because all the procurements have been done. It is a civil work that needs to be done about 32 piles. The contractors have assured us that within two and a half months we will be finalising,” Sanwo-Olu assured.

Continuing, Sanwo-Olu stated, “What will be happening now is that we will be opening two major drainage channels from Thomas on the right and a new one from the Idumagbo, both of them will flow into the drainage and take them straight into the lagoon. Each of them will be automatically activated. We have built capacity and we have also built redundancy for final solution of drainage evacuation for Lagos Isalnd and I’m sure by December or January, this project will be completed.

However, Sanwo-Olu warned, “Internally, we have work to do about three markets that we saw. The Bombata Market, Jankara Market and Pelewura Market. I’m using this as a notice to all the illegal squatters and all other people that are doing things there that we will clear up the entire markets. The Bombata and Jankara markets are going to be ground zero and there is a full design on what we are going to put there.

“On Pelewura Market because it harbours a large number of our citizens, we will give them adequate notice and we will be working with our concessionaires and all other stakeholders will be brought on board and we will all agree as to when the demolition and evacuation will start.

“Regarding the roads, we will invite the original contractor-Julius Berger which did fantastic job at that time. We will bring them back to site to start work within a week and start assessment of Idumagbo Avenue, Odo-Giwa and come out at Adeniji-Adele Road.

“As from Idumagbo up to Ebute Ero on the right, there will be a long time regeneration of the entire area. We have done our own but the way of life of our people must change. No matter how well the drainage is, if people still drop refuse inside the drainage, it will get filled up.

“So, I’m using this channel to appeal to our citizens. We will not tolerate bad behaviour and from tomorrow, the Ministry of the Environment will start giving notices to all of our store owners on drainage where shops and all sorts of things that do not fit in and we can’t allow a few to destroy the larger number of us,” Sanwo-Olu stated.