Flooding: Lagos To Re-engineer Canals, Drainage Systems – Ambode

Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday said the flooding caused by torrential rainfalls in the state within the last few days will soon be a thing of the past. Governor Ambode assured residents that the state government was working towards embarking on holistic solutions to address the situation once and for all. He gave the assurance in Ikeja at a sensitisation workshop on water management and environmental control, a prelude to a Water Technology and Environmental Control (WATEC) exhibition expected to hold in Israel later in the year. The governor said aside from the fact that the issue of flooding was a global phenomenon, urgent steps were being taken to tackle the challenge in a holistic manner and protect Lagos State from future re-occurrence. He empathised with the flood victims and said that it was painful to see most prime estates flooded with water and roads taken over by floods while many homesteads literally became pools. Ambode noted that major strategies would be implemented with a view to bequeathing the state with an enduring solution to water management and environmental control. He said: “If we have learnt anything in the ongoing flooding of some parts of the state, it is that there is an immediate, even urgent need for us to embark upon a review and re-engineering of our canals and drainage systems. This must be pursued hand-in-hand with a clear and crystal re-envisioning of our water management system. So, in effect, what we should immediately pursue is a holistic solution to what is certain to be a recurring problem. It must be a sincere collaboration between government and the citizenry”.

The Governor added that several reforms were being implemented in line with the capacity of the state government to protect the shoreline and carry out de-flooding which he said were equally expensive to implement.

“The issue is when you are talking about reforms, it comes with pains but it is only the vision that drives it through and that is what we are doing,” he said.