The governor of Oyo State, ‘Seyi Makinde, has issued a marching order to the Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA) to fix all potholes on roads in the state.
The governor, who asked residents of the state to look forward to the disappearance of potholes on their roads, assured them that the government would continue to fix potholes on the roads, while also building new ones.
Governor Makinde stated these on Tuesday, July 18, shortly after meeting with the management of OYSROMA and inspecting the agency’s facilities at its head office, located at Eleyele, Ibadan.
According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, the governor said that he had received assurance from OYSROMA that the state could achieve zero pothole, adding that the government would do everything necessary to make it happen.
“We have to keep fixing the potholes. The people of Oyo State should expect to see most of the potholes disappear. The OYSROMA has promised me that zero pothole is possible in Oyo State.
“I have asked them for their proposal, and I have also asked them to give me who I should hold accountable. They have given me the individual I should hold accountable, and I am going to do that,” the governor said.
According to Governor Makinde, who was at the OYSROMA office in company with the Chief of Staff, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi, and some other political appointees, the challenges of potholes had increased with the regular torrential rainfall being experienced.
He noted, however, that his administration’s zero pothole policy was still on course, and that residents of the state would see a prompt positive change, as according to him, the government would give OYSROMA everything it would need to achieve that.
He said: “You know, with the rain; we are having a lot of our roads having potholes and also failing. OYSROMA is the government agency saddled with the responsibility of having the roads fixed, and I have been wondering what they were doing. So, I came to have an understanding of the challenges and also to encourage them to do what they are supposed to do.
“Now, we have some of our roads that will be completely rebuilt, and there are also others that we will only have to intervene. For those ones that need only intervention, it will be done by OYSROMA. So, we have to give them everything they need to carry out that function.”
The governor equally maintained that he discovered that funding was one of the issues and that the issue would be sorted to enable the agency to deliver.
This was as he promised to ensure that the road maintenance agency works hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Environment to address the challenge of residents dumping refuse indiscriminately under hydraulic structures fixed by OYSROMA.
“In my interaction with OYSROMA, they mentioned a few things. One of them is that they might go somewhere to rehabilitate a hydraulic structure but before it rains, people go out there and dump refuse in that place.
“So, I said we will have them collaborate with the Ministry of Environment to ensure that once hydraulic structures are rehabilitated, people don’t go there dumping refuse indiscriminately.
“There was also the issue of funding. We approved some money for OYSROMA before now and we thought they spent it anyhow. I only just found out that just a portion of the money was released to them.
“So, we will go back to the Accountant-General to ask why the fund was not released, and if they are also having challenges, we would know how to address it,” the governor added.
