....begins palliative work on Sango-Ota-Ijoko-Akute road
By Peter Adedoyin
The Ogun State government on Tuesday clarified that there was no disagreement between it and the federal government on the present condition of Abeokuta-Sango-Lagos express road, saying that both governments are working hard to fix the road.
The Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi, made the clarification at a press conference, held at the Olusegun Osoba Press Centre, Governor's Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, said the state had cordial relationship with the Federal Government in finding lasting solution to the deplorable condition of the road.
While explaining that the state government does not give the federal government any ultimatum to fix the road, noted that both the federal and state governments in the past, had looked at some issues together and taken turns to find solutions.
Talabi also revealed that the State government had commenced work on the bad portions of the Sango-Ota-Ijoko road to ease the suffering of commuters on the road, stressing that the reconstruction work will move towards Akute on the border with Lagos in the coming weeks.
He added that the palliative work would be completed in two weeks.
Speaking on the Abeokuta-Sango-Lagos road, Talabi said, "What is happening is that the road is already contracted out and so it makes it difficult to go into a contracted road. On the source of funding, in recent times, the governor had personally delivered financial options to the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, but they said not, that it was not going to work. We made another, they said it was not going to work and we did the third. We have moved around all the agencies that can support those options and they are in line.
"We are not aware that those options are not acceptable, but it would be that the Minister had an advance knowledge of that, but that was not communicated to us. I am sure those grey areas will be sorted out in no time.
"What I want us to know is that people find it difficult to differentiate between state and federal government roads. On that Sango-Ota-Ijoko road, there were options to use tax credit to fund the reconstruction and we found somebody with a tax credit suitable enough to fund the road. And if there is a gap, we are prepared to fill those gaps and that has been communicated to the various ministries involved. Discussions are going on between the governor and the minister and I am sure they are working towards resolving the issues.
"One thing is certain, our people are suffering. You cannot delay that suffering and we are trying to ensure that bureaucracy does not stop the progress of enjoying the benefits of that road because it is a major artery of the state. Nobody will go to that road a number of times, where people are complaining, without having sympathy for those who use the road. So, it is understandable and we know that the governor will meet his own commitment by starting palliative work on that road". The SSG stated.
Talabi, while assuring that the state government would do its bit to ensure that the road is motorable, attributed the poor condition of the road to more than 15 years of neglect, assuring that there would be a major improvement in the next two weeks.
Explaining some of the steps taken to address workers and pensioners' demands, the SSG disclosed that the state government would henceforth pay gross salary to workers beginning from July, while the N500m quarterly release to upset pensioners' entitlements would also be sustained.
Talabi who disclosed that a total sum owed pensioners stood between N60b to N70b, also added that the total workers' deductions amount to about N10b, stating that the state government was working towards settling the outstanding arrears by the end of 2022.
Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Abdulwaheed Odusile, while briefing on the decisions taken at the State Executive Council meeting held Moday, revealed that the state government has awarded contracts for the construction of some roads across the three Senatorial districts.
Some of these roads according to Odusile include Ilaro-Owode road, Sagamu-Ikenne road, Siun-Owode road and Sagamu Round About- Iperu road.
He stated further that the state government also approved the filling of vacant stools of some traditional rulers and change of names of some.
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