FCTA : Perm Sec Decries Theft Of Manhole Covers

The Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has decried the incessant vandalism of manhole covers and flood containment infrastructure across the city.

To this end, the FCT Administration called on residents and security agencies to support government in protecting these public facilities.

Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola made the call over the weekend in Abuja during an inspection visit to some Streets with cases of manhole cover theft in Abuja.

Mr Olusade noted that most of the recently replaced manhole covers were made of ductile materials with less second -hand value, have also been vandalized and stolen, leading to poor drainage systems and consequently flooding.

On cost implication, Mr Olusade who revealed that the installation of each gully inlet cover cost about #500, 000, appealed to residents to report anyone caught vandalizing these facilities to security agencies using the emergency number 112.

“In a distance of one kilometer, we can have more than 20, 30 floodwater covers, gully inlet covers and maybe one or two or three manhole covers and each gully inlet costs not less than N500,000. Now, if you multiply this by 20 kilometers, 80 kilometers, 200 kilometers, you know what this translates to. And this is in the face of very competing needs for the meagre resources that we have. This underscores the need for everyone to support the efforts of government to protect this road infrastructure”.

Mr Adesola also used the medium to caution members of the public against dumping refuse into drainages and gutters.

“Earlier in the week, we undertook a visit to the flood sites of Lokogoma and Trademore, amongst others. The destruction caused by the flood in those areas were really touching. But we knew that equally within the city, there are pockets of flash floods and flooding of some areas due to suboptimal performance of our drainages and we also knew that efforts were made to address these challenges. 

“We want to beckon to every citizen and our law enforcement agencies to support the efforts of the FCTA in protecting lives and property through the provision of road infrastructure. A lot of resources are committed to replacing these manholes, but not long after they are replaced, they are removed. On this particular road that we are, ductile materials that were thought to be of little or no second-hand value were installed. But shockingly today, all of them have been removed and nobody has been arrested for removing any.

“So, we want to appeal to every citizen; when you see something, report something. We have the number 112 where we can make emergency reports. When something unusual is happening, report it so that our law enforcement agencies can be invited to deal with the situation. This way, we will all be contributing to making the FCT flood-free”.

Remi Johnson, Edited By Grace Namiji