…Says Govt To Deliver Two Roads In Each Council
…Urges Executive Secretaries To Get Involved In Their Communities
Lagos
State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday unveiled plans to commence the
reconstruction of two roads in each of the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local
Council Development Areas in the State, just as he charged the Executive
Secretaries to judiciously ensure that the projects meet international
standard.
The
Governor spoke at the Lagos House, Ikeja during the monthly meeting with the
Executive Secretaries of the 57 Councils to review the progress report in their
various communities as well as their challenges.
He
said the decision to embark on the road rehabilitation was in line with the
reforms at the local government level, noting that the first phase will
commence with the reconstruction of 114 roads, two per local government, at the
cost of N19billion.
The
Governor, who said the execution of the project will be left in the care of the
local governments, however tasked the Executive Secretaries to ensure that only
the best contractors are engaged to ensure that the prescribed standard is met
on all the roads.
“We
expect you to create jobs in your communities and get our people employed on
these projects”, he said.
Governor
Ambode said that the ongoing reforms in the councils are geared towards making
them more effective and deliver better service to their communities, saying
that the new structure which has become operational will go a long way to
reduce cost of governance.
“With
this new structure, a lot is expected from you, the Executive Secretaries. You
are the face of the government in your communities. Your people must know you
and you must know the people”.
“You
must have a good knowledge of their challenges and be able to, jointly with
them, proffer solutions that the government can implement. You should live with
your people. There is no reason why an Executive Secretary of a Local
Government should live outside his community”, he said.
He
reminded the Executive Secretaries that the performance of the administration
will be judged by their performance, urging them to improve on sanitation,
primary healthcare delivery, primary education, local government roads and
community security in their Councils.
He
also charged them to utilise the various channels of communication to improve
the level of participation between the Community Development Committees (CDCs)
Community Development Associations (CDAs), Local Councils, Local Governments
and the State Government.
“This
chain of communication must be fluid and information should flow either way.
You have created websites; we have erected boundary demarcation sign posts and
created phone lines for easier access to the Local Governments and Councils. We
expect all these to ensure better communication with your communities and for
the people to know which Local Governments they reside in”, he said.
The
Governor also reiterated his promise to run an inclusive government and return
governance to the communities, saying it was the surest way to give the people
a stake in governance.
“This
is a government of continuity with improvement. As such our people must feel
that improvement. They must experience that improvement. They can only feel it
if you are dedicated to serve them. As we work on ways to improve the lives of
our people, I charge you all to get involved in your communities. You must live
with your community and you should be accessible to them”.
“Community
Governance should be our priority as we have promised. We can only consider our
administration a success if we can touch the lives of all our citizens
positively in any community they reside. That is the challenge facing you and I”,
he said.