Lagos State Government said at the weekend that a permanent solution to flooding at Idumagbo, Oroyinyin, Ojo Giwa and their environs on Lagos Island would be put in place before the end of the year.
It added that what obtained at the Ilubirin end was a temporary measure.
Addressing stakeholders who included the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Wasiu Eshinlokun Sanni, at a meeting at the Lagos Island Local Government, on the issue of continuous flood experienced in the area, Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Mr. Tunji Bello said the government would provide a massive pumping station equipped with high capacity tanks.
He said when fully functional, the station would be fitted with three bigger pumps of 3000m cube per minute M3 capacity each with a 400KVA generator to power it, which had the capacity of pumping the water that might have accumulated within an hour.
Bello told the residents that what has been provided at the Ilubirin end for now is a temporary measure, which takes a minimum of two days to pump water after every heavy rainfall.
He said a basin of about six metres depth was part of the features of the new pump station coming on stream.
The commissioner told the audience that included leaders of Community Development Committees (CDCs), Community Development Associations (CDAS), market men and women that the major problem responsible for flooding was the depressed nature of the area, which had made it difficult for water to naturally drain into the canals.
He advised Lagos Island residents to desist from dumping refuse into drains and canals, urging them to take ownership of the environment by moving against property developers, who littered drains with building materials, preventing flowing drains.
Speaking about the complaints of unavailability of pipe borne water on Lagos Island, the commissioner said the problem was receiving attention through a complete overhaul of the pipe network and machinery of the Adiyan and Iju water works project.
He said the necessary approvals had been given by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the projects, which also included the Onikan water scheme that would restore water supply to the Island and Mainland when completed.
Bello added that the pipe networks supplying the residents, which were already rusted and dilapidated, would also be replaced to allow pipe borne water reach all homes soon.
He directed the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to collaborate with Lagos Island Local Government on the possibility of allowing the PSP operators to discharge refuse generated by tenements at the TLS, located at Ebute Elefun, before being trans-loaded to the Ojota dumpsite.
Sanni, who represents Lagos Island 1, appealed to residents to cooperate with the government to proffer solution to flooding.
The Chairman, Lagos Island East Local Government, Muibi Alabi Folawiyo, said Lagos Island needed serious regeneration and building of drainages, to curb the menace of flooding.
The Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services, Olalekan Shodeinde, represented by the Director of Drainage Enforcement and Compliance, Mahmood Adegbite, advised the residents to form a committee of residents and groups to liaise and meet with the officials of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources once a month and feed the community back.
The Managing Director, LAWMA, Mr. Ibrahim Odumboni, said the agency was ready to provide a dumping site for PSP operators from the Island to deliver only wastes generated by residents and not commercial entities at the Transfer Loading Station at Ebute Elefun before being trans-loaded to Ojota Dumpsite.
