The Kwara government has begun the construction of cross-culverts at the Irewolede road to control floods during the rainy season.

To fast-track the project, the state Ministry of Works and Transportation has announced a temporary closure of a section of the road to provide adequate channels to accommodate flood water in the axis.

This is contained in a statement issued by the state Commissioner for Works and Transport, Suleiman Iliasu, on Saturday in Ilorin.

“The temporary closure is to protect workers from the traffic as well as shield motorists from the potential hazards of a construction site.

“We call for patience and understanding of members of the public.

“While work begins on this road, we plead with road users to use the Customs Road, Stadium Road, Asa-Dam Road, Coca-Cola Road and Taiwo Road.

“Once again, we appeal to residents and road users to be patient.

“We regret the inconveniences this work may cause. It is for the safety of the general public and smoother road travel within the axis,” the government said.

The statement added that government has also ordered the contractor handling the Adeta Primary School Road back to the site to fix some sections of the road that have failed.

It said the contractor had seven days to return to the site or risk being blacklisted, especially since officials had earlier raised red flags about the quality of his job.

“The retention period has not lapsed, and the contractor has not been fully paid for the job as part of the standard measures to protect public interest,” it explained.

The statement said the ministry has also taken note of complaints on some other roads recently affected by flooding, but urged residents to avoid blocking drainages.

“A culture of dumping wastes into drainages is an unfortunate thing that damages our roads.

“No matter how good a road is, it needs a free flow of water for durability.

“This is often a problem because people are fond of messing up our drainages in spite of the daily advocacy, but we will not be tired,” it assured.

(NAN)