Ondo: Communities suffer as abandoned constituency projects litter

Aponmu Lona, a village under Idanre local government, in Ondo Central Senatorial District, cuts a picture of many neglected communities across Ondo State.
The sorry picture begins at the entrance to the village through a detour off the Akure-Ondo expressway.
The rocky road is impassable and difficult to drive through.
The dearth of basic amenities is palpable as one approaches the village square.
To mitigate the troubles of the residents of Aponmu Lona, the construction of a Medium Basic Health Centre was earmarked in the 2015 federal budget at N8 million as a constituency project.
Although the project was listed since 2015, not a single block has been laid for it three years later.
Constituency projects are usually listed by federal lawmakers and implemented by the government in their respective constituencies.
When PREMIUM TIMES visited the village as part of its constituency projects tracking, only a basic health centre built over 12 years ago under the administration of Governor Olusegun Agagu, stands at the end of the village.
The community’s only health centre lacked basic amenities, and had no toilets or bathrooms.
The community had longed for either an upgrade of the old centre or a better one for improved services, unaware that such provisions had been made for them in the budget.
Sick residents needing better medical care would have to travel the long distances either to Akure, the state capital or to Ondo town, or alternatively to Idanre, which is another long distance from the village.
Sina Olanade, Public Relations Officer of Aponmu Lona Health Committee, told PREMIUM TIMES that the four bedroom health centre was built without toilet and bathroom and had no exit door, when it was constructed.
“We have to break a wall behind to create and exit door and there we used iron roofing sheets to do a little enclosure so that patients can take their baths there,” Mr Olanade said.
He said there was no other basic health centre in the town and they had expected the interventions of the various tiers of government to come to the aid of the village but nothing positive was forthcoming.
This development seems to duplicate itself in other parts of the state under the constituency project scheme of the government as witnessed in other similar health centres billed for Atosin, in Idanre and Okeigbe, in Ikare, Akoko North East.
They were either abandoned amidst thick bush after the structural work is done, or simply abandoned uncompleted in the midst of overgrown weeds.
The projects were expected to bring health care to the doorsteps of the residents, but long after they were initiated, the people are still waiting for the work to be done.
In Idanre The proposed health centre built at Atosin in Idanre has had its building completed.
However, nothing is currently happening at the site except that it is in the midst of overgrown weeds, completely abandoned.
This project and another located at Akindana has a total of N8 million voted in the 2015 budget.
Atosin is not very far from Idanre, the town noted for its mountainous picturesque which has drawn tourists to the town.
The senator, representing Ondo Central Senatorial District, Ayo Alasoadura, could not be reached for his comments.
He neither picked his calls made to him nor replied text messages sent to him on the observations made by PREMIUM TIMES regarding the state of the projects.
In Akoko A similar health centre is currently under construction at Okeigbe, Akoko North East, and was started during the 2011-2015 dispensation and at the time it was under the facilitation of Gani Dauda who represented the constituency in the House of Representatives.
As it was uncompleted, the project was continued by Stephen Olemija, the present representative at the federal House of Representatives, with a total of N20 million voted for its continuation in the 2017 budget.
At the time of PREMIUM TIMES’ visit, the project was still far from being completed.
Although roofing and glass windows had been installed, doors were absent, leaving the complex for goats that had messed up the place with their dung.
The structure is left amidst overgrown weeds and access to it is difficult.
A former chairperson of the Primary Health Care Association in Akoko North East and a retired nurse, who gave her name as Mrs Ajisafe, said the Okeigbe health centre is a project she and other community leaders are awaiting its completion and activation.
“We are waiting for them to come and complete it, we don’t know what is delaying it,” she said.
Although a state-owned health centre is located at the entrance of the town, it is clearly inadequate for the sprawling community with an ever increasing population following developments and the influx of people into the community.
Boreholes To ensure adequate provision of potable water to indigent communities in Ondo North senatorial district, a number of water projects in the forms of hand pump and motorised boreholes were proposed for the different constituencies.
While a good number of them were executed, some of them were not executed as witnessed by PREMIUM TIMES in its tour of the project sites.
It was observed that a good number of them provided were not being maintained, resulting in abandonment and damage.
The affected communities are plunged in a renewed cycle of lack of potable water.
For instance, a water supply project (hand pump boreholes) for Ugbe communities of Aunti Bisi and Tanimowo, in Ikare Akoko, were completely absent.
They were part of 10 hand pumps worth N20 million to be provided in the different communities in the constituency in the 2016 budget.
When PREMIUM TIMES visited Tanimowo, only partially functional borehole was seen built over 10 years ago by the Olusegun Agagu government.
Residents complained that the borehole, besides its being ineffective in producing enough water for the community, is unfit for drinking.
At Antie Bisi, the borehole listed for execution was not found.
However, an older hand pump borehole exists nearby.
At Okeagbe, in Akoko North West, the motorised borehole had been abandoned for four months when PREMIUM TIMES visited in July.
The borehole was one of six solar powered motorised boreholes worth N50.8 million for the constituency in the 2016 budget.
Residents at Oge street where the borehole was located complained that the facility had been left unrepaired after it malfunctioned, forcing the community to rely on a dug well nearby.
A look at the well showed that it was not a hygienic source of water for the community.
Source: Premium Times