Mimiko spends N55.762b on roads

Completes, commissions NEPA-Arakale dualisation

Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko has said his administration spent N54.762 billion on roads construction.Mimiko disclosed this yesterday in Akure at the commissioning of NEPA/Arakale road project, bus shelters and terminals.

The governor revealed that the Arakale dualisation project was to be undertaken with that of Oba Adesida road in 1977, but was jettisoned due to lack of political will to relocate the ancient buildings, shrines and artefacts along the road corridors.

Mimiko noted that this therefore held down the developmental of the axis for more than 30 years, as successive administrations could not bear the huge cost of the project.

According to him, 439 houses were enumerated and compensation totalling N987, 358, 985 was paid to the affected landlords when he commenced the project after his first tenure in 2009.

“We are proud to be part of history and a government that benchmarked good road infrastructure, consistent street light, consistent bus shuttle facility, geometric increase of dualised roads from two to eight while another one is just commencing at Ikare-Akoko,” he said.

The governor said: “I wish to emphasise at this junction that while we were working on this road, we were also fixing other roads simultaneously especially within the Akure metropolis.”

Mimiko appealed to the people of the state to consider the roads as personal and collective heritage, which they have individual and collective duty to protect and preserve.

The Commissioner for Works, Gboye Adegbenro said: “Successive administrations had tried since 1976 to dualise the road but were unable to embark on it due to the opposition of the landlords and traditional chiefs.”

Adegbenro said the present administration constructed the 2.4km road to accommodate the current traffic and designed to be dual carriageways with 7.3m width each.

The facilities included 14 bus shelters, two bus terminals and three big parking lots of 1000 capacity were constructed to curtail traffic congestion on the road.

“Illumination on the road in the night was also taken care by constructing bright street light installed along the concrete median of the road,” he explained.