The Lagos State Ministry of Environment (MOE) and Water Resources, on Wednesday, said an evacuation notice would be served to shanties around Kuramo waters to address flash flooding in the state.
The Commissioner, Ministry of the Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, made this known while speaking with journalists after an inspection tour of some drainage and projects around Eti Osa Local Government Area with his team.
Wahab who led a team to visit the Kuramo waters, was displeased with the community due to shanties around the area, saying it was of great concern.
Kuramo waters is very strategic for Victoria Island and we have also had conversations with the contractors doing the coastal road that they must allow the outlet to discharge originally the way it should discharge to the Atlantic.
“This is what we came to certify and also ask them to give squatters a notice to vacate so we can clean up this whole neighborhood.
“The community of shanties growing around the Kuramo Waters are major source of concern, security and environmental wise.
“We cannot even account for them. We are not saying you cannot come to stay in Lagos but let them account for you in Lagos so they can plan around you in Lagos like schools, health facilities and other infrastructures.
“For us this is not encouraging, we will serve them the notices and then let them just move so we can take ownership of this place and keep it for our own safety,” he said.
He described the inspection tour as a routine inspection that started from Orchid Road in Lekki area of the state.
“Orchid road had to do with system 156 and 157.
“For the past few months, we have had major negotiations with residents and home owners around system 156 and 157 to the extent that they obliterated 156 entirely.
“At this point, there were just two options, to remove those houses and whatever and reinstate 156 to discharge it to Ikota with 157 or they come up with a practicable pragmatic design and they will fund the design to discharge the storm water meant to have been discharged by system 156 and 157 into Ikota.
“The designs were approved and we gave them a ministry officials to supervise so what we did today was to go there and see the extent of work that has been done,” he said.
Wahab with his team also inspected Ikota GRA System 44A, checked out the Bill of Quantity (BOQ) prepared by residents to have a middle ground following massive infractions for the construction of a Secondary Collector by the residents.
“The GRA came up with a design also and we have to be sure the design is workable and practicable to help discharge and deflood the whole ecosystem.
“After the back and forth, they agreed and we signed off on it and we also gave them some timelines that the BOQ they came up with, the money must be in the escrow account in the next four weeks,” he said.
He explained that the construction would commence in the first week of January 2025 under the supervision of the ministry’s engineers after the deposit of the required sum in an escrow account in the next four weeks to demonstrate seriousness.
Wahab also visited Onikoyi Waterfront and the Lagos State Waste Water Management Office, the Lekki Modular Septage Pretreatment Plant, where illegal dredging activities was going on without the Environmental Impact Assessment.
“All the operators will be served immediate Stop Work Order immediately,” he said.
On demolition, Wahab said the state does not demolish, adding that in some instances there were no ways to redesign it.
“In some instances, there are no ways to redesign it, we must remove, for instance system 1 odo Iyalaro, if you are on that right of way we must remove.
“Look at the super infrastructure coming from Opebi linking up the road down to third mainland axis through Ogudu and Maryland, that is something we cannot negotiate.
“All we had to do is to reduce the width to enable us enforce to establish that right of way established since 1974 in Lagos State.
“These are very critical instances but for those that are secondary collectors or channels that we can find a way to discharge water, we do that realistically without also compromising the eco system,” he said.
He also assured Lagos residents that the ministry would continue to do its best in managing flooding in the state.
“We were able to manage the flooding better than we were doing in the past, so much work had been done and we won’t still rest on our oars.
“A lot of work will still be done so when we take stock next or upper year, we will know we are in a better place than where we were before,” he said.
