The Ogun State government says it is being compelled to extend the road construction on the Panseke Adigbe road in Abeokuta farther following flood, which washed away the Opako bridge at the weekend and rendered the road impassable.
The government had only repaired the bridge last year after it was damaged by flood.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engineer Ade Akinsanya, said on Monday that all houses in the area would have been sacked by flooding “but for the quality of work done on the road by the Dapo Abiodun-led administration.”
Akinsanya, according to a statement made available to our correspondent by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kunle Somorin, added that though the flow of water was high, the bridge being constructed remained unscathed.
He explained that the part of the bridge that was washed away happened because of the drainages built near the area, which he said people had filled with plastic and other wastes.
“Channels of water had been blocked by houses, thus raising the level of the flood. Waterways were blocked, but water will always find its level and, definitely, there is no asphalt that water cannot wash away if its volume is heavy.
“Residents of the area should shun activities that impede the flow of water. People should dispose their wastes carefully and not invite flood,” he said.
The statement added that the state government was already looking at the possibility of providing durable drainage by extending the ongoing construction work on the Panseke-Adigbe road to reach the popular Opako bridge on the Obada road.
This, it believed, would put a permanent stop to the perennial destruction of the retaining walls on the busy bridge due to lack of proper drainage.
It added that extending drainages to the bridge would enhance a proper flow and channelling of water, especially during the rains.
