GOVERNOR Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State yesterday disclosed that his administration had expended over N7.5 billion on payment of contractors handling various road projects inherited from the immediate past administration in the state.
Meanwhile, Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said the state requires over N160 billion ($1.4b) to separate and rebuild houses in order to achieve his administration’s urban renewal programme.
Mimiko added that the amount was apart from the N11 billion inherited by his administration from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration for the execution of 468-kilometre road projects in the state.
The governor disclosed that most of the 468-km road projects were hurriedly awarded by the former Governor Olusegun Agagu-led administration shortly after the ruling of Justice Nabaruma-led election tribunal and were cash-backed with over-generous mobilisation in contravention of laid down contractual rules of the state.
Mimiko, who disclosed that his administration did not abandon any of the inherited road projects, stated that most of the projects, which were ordinarily surface-dressed with loose stones, have been laid with asphalt to make them durable.
In continuation of his campaign tour of local councils, Mimiko also commissioned an ultra-modern market of 264 open stores and 92 lock-up stores at Oka-Akoko, health centres at Akowonjo, Igbo Egun and Iwaro Oka where he also commissioned a town hall.
Governor Mimiko said his administration had gone extra-mile to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people of Akoko with over 50 projects executed in various communities in the area in the past three-and-a-half years of his administration. He promised that Mega Schools would soon be constructed in some of the areas.
Aregbesola, while speaking at the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum (WUF) 6 Mayors’ Roundtable at Naples, Italy, stressed that his administration discovered that more than 38,000 buildings have either become dilapidated or are deteriorating.
Aregbesola, who was represented by the Commissioner for Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olumuyiwa Ige, held that when the administration came into office in November 2010, it undertook an assessment of the condition of urban centres in the state.
He added that it was discovered that not only could they not sustain their current populations, they were in no shape to accommodate the future.
He added that it was also discovered that a significant shift in the economic pattern affected cities negatively, stating that cities were built with wealth realised from exported cash crops, which when the commodity’s economy collapsed, the houses and structures built from this wealth suffered neglect and were either decaying or collapsing.
According to the governor, “This situation, therefore, requires leadership and exceptional governance capabilities. The urgent task before us is to renew the urban centres, upgrade the slums and build future cities, while ensuring good governance.
“Our first response was to put in place a committee of seasoned professionals and academics in urban and regional planning who are working assiduously to develop a modern urban outlook for our numerous towns and cities. In the first phase of this project, one kilometre radius of the urban core of nine cities will be renewed, with roads, drainages, infrastructure and full municipal services. Through this programme, we intend to transform the urban centres into modern ones and ensure their sustainability,” Aregbesola added.
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