Ogun employs 20,000 road sweepers

The Ogun State Government on Thursday said it had employed over 20,000 sweepers to keep the roads and the environment in major cities across the state clean.

Each of the sweepers, according to the government, is being paid more than the N18, 000 minimum wage.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun said this during the 2013 Budget Town Hall Meeting held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.

Prior to their employment, Amosun said the state government was initially spending millions of naira daily to hire equipment and pay refuse disposal personnel.

He however added that the state government had to procure its own refuse disposal equipment to save cost.

The governor further said 3,000 and 4,000 of the employed sweepers had been deployed in Abeokuta and Ilaro, respectively.

“We all know how (dirty) the roads were before now. Initially, we were paying payloaders N400, 000 per day. The trailer that would carry the payloader would charge N600, 000,” he said.

Reacting to questions from members of the public, Amosun explained that the Farm Settlements being revamped by the state government would boost food production and reduce unemployment in the state.

The governor urged the youth to take advantage of the incentives and support being provided in the agriculture sector and get themselves engaged in productive activities.

“We have awarded contracts for some of our own major roads in the three senatorial districts in the state and they will be of Ogun standard when completed. The Ibara-Totoro Road has offered us a good example of the Ogun standard,” he added.

Amosun lamented the huge debt inherited by his administration, months of unpaid salaries, derelict road network and collapsed public infrastructure, noting that the problems of eight years could not be solved overnight.

The governor therefore assured the people of the state that all the issues raised during the town hall meeting would be factored into the 2013 budget estimate.

Earlier in her welcome address, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mrs. Oluwande Muoyo, said the major objective of the town-hall meeting was to collect the input of residents for the purpose of guiding the 2013 budget estimates.

Culled: Punchng