Idemili South council extols group on drainage system

                                                       
Idemili South Local Government counsellors, have moved a motion calling on the Chairman of the LGA,  Prince Henry Ezenwa, to mandate owners of all houses  sited beside motor able roads in all the towns in the area to construct drainages in front of their houses to help control the menace of flood.
 They also stressed the need for setting up a proper Local Road Maintenance Agency for improved, timely and standard maintenance of Rural roads.
Brainstorming on the first motion, sponsored by Hon. Elebo Tony , Counsellor, representing Ojoto ward, Hon. Ebele Anoliefor (Awka-Etiti Ward II), Hon. Ibeto Okechukwu (Oba Ward I) and the majority leader of the House, Hon. Maxwell Ezeugo, argued in support of the motion during the plenary sitting of the house. They said the motion was timely due to the topographical location of the council area, which was listed among the flood prone communities in the state.
 The lawmakers argued that construction of both open and closed gutters (drainages) will help control the menace of flood,  especially with the  heavy down pour witnessed this year in this part of the country and the release of water from the Lagdo dams in Cameroun. The motion stipulates that any house owner that would not be able to construct a gutter must dig a catchment pit, where water flowing out from his or her compound should percolate.

The leader of the House, Hon.  Amaka Obi (Awka-Etiti Ward I) ,set up a five- man ad-hoc committee, headed by the majority leader of the House, Hon. Maxwell Ezeugo (Nnobi Ward III), to look into the motion.
They came out with this submission citing drainage maintenances law 2015;’ It shall be an offence for any house owner along the road not to construct a drainage in front of the house or dig a catchment pit where there is no existing drainage; it shall be an offence for anybody to block the drainage channels by cultivating three (3) feet to the drainage or disposing garbage or any obstructive materials inside the drainage.’
The penalty stipulated that violators shall be liable to N10, 000 or three months imprisonment or both fine and imprisonment.

In a related development, the same five- man ad-hoc committee was given with the responsibility of fine tuning another motion presented by the deputy leader of the House, Hon. Charles Akubueze (Alor Ward II) ,which called for establishment of an Idemili South Road Maintenance Agency to be acronymed (IDMA).
The objectives of the motion according to Hon. Akubueze were as follows: Construction of rural roads in various communities in Idemili south LGA, Maintenance of various existing rural roads and drainages in IDSLGA; Construction of water ways/drainages along all existing LG roads.
Akubueze said that the Federal Government owned FERMA, which sees to maintenance of federal roads, state government had ARMA, which sees to the maintenance of state roads but the rural roads have been neglected all these years.

The lawmakers appealed that the devastation suffered by the road users were enormous and as such the chairman should enforce the bye-laws to enable road users enjoy good roads which are also dividends of democracy.