Oyo Begins Eleyele Dam Rehabilitation

THE Oyo state government, as part of its mandate aims at addressing the perennial flood risk of Ibadan, has handed over the Eleyele Dam to Messrs CGC-CHWE JV for the reconstruction works on the 72-year-old dam.

Handing over the site to the representative of the company on behalf of the state government, the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Isaac Ishola, charged the company to deliver a qualitative and timely job in line with the approved designs.

The reconstruction work is part of the deliverables of the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP), a special purpose organ set up by the Abiola Ajimobi-led government, with funding support from the World Bank, to address all issues pertaining to flooding in Ibadan, in the aftermath of the August 26, 2011 devastating flood in the city.

The Eleyele Dam was one of the major hydrological devices that were ravaged by the 2011 flood.

Mega Icon Magazine reliably gathered that the scope of reconstruction work to be done on the Eleyele Dam, which was originally built in 1946, include rehabilitation of the spillway weir; rehabilitation of the spillway channel to Ologuneru Bridge; rehabilitation and raising of the existing embankment by about 1.8 meters; and rehabilitation of the intake tower, scour channel and scour tunnel.

Also in attendance at the brief ceremony as part of the state government team were the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Gabriel Oguntola; representative of the Cabinet Office of the Governor’s Office; the General Manager of Oyo State Water Corporation, Engr. Adegboyega; Tpl. S. B. Taiwo who stood in for the Special Adviser and Director-General of Bureau of Physical Planning; Engr. Ayanwale, Director of Water Resources in the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources; as well as members of the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the IUFMP.

Our further checks revealed that the rehabilitation work, when completed, would help prevent further devastating flood in the city of Ibadan and enhance the socio-economic well-being of the citizens of the state. The contractor is expected to mobilize to site in the next couple of weeks, after which a flag-off ceremony will be conducted by the state governor, Abiola Ajimobi.