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• Commissioner, Board Chairman affirms readiness of government to upscale, resuscitate, and rehabilitate dilapidated facilities
The Osun state government, under the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke, has reaffirmed its readiness to upscale, resuscitate, and rehabilitate the dilapidated facilities in all the water corporation facilities across the state.
The state government stated this through the Commissioner of Water Resources, Hon Sunday Oroniyi, who led a team of the ministry in collaboration with the Chairman, Water Board Corporation of Osun State, Hon Samuel Oyedotun.
The team which started the field work and on-spot assessment of waterworks in the state at Old Ede Headworks which has been abandoned since 1986 after its commissioning in 1952 frowned at the obvious lack of maintenance and culture of waste that has made useful government facilities to be rotting away.
Before its abandonment, the Old Ede Headworks had a 20,450 cubic metres water capacity and was serving ido-osun, ofatedo, Halleluyah, Okinni, Agunbelewo among other areas.
The lack of capacity of the Old Ede Headworks to serve its coverage area necessitated the establishment of the new Ede waterworks which is the biggest water dam in the state and the major point where water are distributed to different service points in the state. It has a capacity of 180,000 cubic meters with an interconnectivity with Owala dam upstream in Okinni, which can also be used as a source of power generation.
It was discovered that a consultant was once engaged to appraise the old Ede headworks but wasn’t paid by the previous government, which made his report unavailable to date.
The commissioner however commended the security team at the facility for being up and doing in securing the obsolete facilties against looting and vandalization and thereafter assured that the resuscitation of the facility is paramount to the government.
The commissioner further raised concern about the manual operation of the gate at the New Ede Headworks for safety reasons and suggested it be upgraded to electronic process.
The New Ede Headworks currently operates at less than 10% capacity delivery despite being the biggest water facility in the state.
At the gas station of the facility, the OSWC Chairman, Hon Sam Oyedotun implored the staffs of constant usage of Oxyginated nose masks, PPE and life jackets by the workers entering the gas stations to serve as safety measure for the staff of the facility while equally referencing the essence of hazard allowance for the staffs as suggested by the General Manager.
The team thereafter moved to the Ejigbo Mini Water scheme, which was commissioned in 2006 with a capacity of 2,400 cubic meters daily. However, lack of power supply has been a major challenge for the water station to fulfil its purpose in the expected area.
The government team and Ministry officials were also at Iwo Waterworks commissioned in 1952 and have 9080 cubic meters’ water capacity.
The Iwo Waterworks has a service area that covers Iwo, Telemu, Ile-Ogbo, and other surrounding towns but can not currently serve 40% of Iwo community.
It was discovered that part of the challenges affecting the adequate service delivery to the people includes faulty pipes that’s affecting water distribution and aged pipes that deserve replacement and, equally, lack of power supply.
It was also noted that the dam needs dredging to expand its capacity level.
While giving an appraisal of the assessment of the different facility, the Honourable Commissioner for Water Resources, Hon Sunday Oroniyi and Chairman, Water Board Corporation, Hon Sam Oyedotun both strongly agreed that lack of power supply is the first major bedrock that is affecting the efficiency and effective delivery of water stations in the state.
They also noted the necessity of replacing, rehabilitating, and upgrading most of the obsolete facilties in the different water station as they can not measure up to the standard and demands of present time.
The General Manager, OSWC, Engr Dupeola Jokotola, offered technical analysis on problems bewildering most of the water stations while also reiterating solutions to most of the problems identified at the different water scheme of the state.
At the palace of Oluwo of Iwoland, the Honourable Commissioner of Water Resources, Hon Sunday Oroniyi reiterated the readiness of the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke to ensure adequate water supply in improving the well-being and healthy life of the citizens and residents of Osun State.
He equally enjoin the monarch to help canvass and sensitize the people against encroachment on government lands, especially as it concerns waterworks areas.
The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Adewale Akanbi, appreciated the government team for the proactive steps being taken in ensuring the resuscitation of water scheme in the State. He assured of his support for the government in any area that is needed in ensuring the success of Governor Ademola Adeleke administration.
The inspection train has in its team the commissioner for Water Resources, Hon Sunday Oroniyi, the Chairman OSWC, Hon Samuel Oyedotun, the PS Ministry of Water Resources, Egnr Olusola Ajao, the GM, Water Board Corporation, Engr Dupeola Jokotola, other career heads of the Ministry, and Media Aides from the office of the Governor.
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