Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde on Wednesday revoked the ongoing Saki Township road project.
He said that the revocation was in listening to complaints of many who lament nightmarish experiences plying the road coupled with constant health breakdown.
Makinde however assured that he will reward the project to another contractor within the next four weeks.
The governor made these announcements during the inauguration of the Saki Specialist hospital on Wednesday.
It would be recalled that the 9.7 km Saki Township road was awarded in December 2016 at a cost of N8.2 billion with a completion period of 18 months.
“You can hear from everybody that the road has been a nightmare since we came in.
“I invited the contractor; we spoke and he gave me his word that within three months we will see appreciable improvement with the level of work that has been done.
“I deliberately passed through the road on Wednesday and nothing appreciable has occurred.
“That contract was before we came in, but we are left with no other option because we need to look after the people. The dust is causing big health challenges for the people of Saki and we cannot allow it to continue forever.
“Within four weeks, we will re-award the project to someone who will do better,” Makinde said.
While inaugurating the Saki Specialist hospital, he reiterated his resolve to complete at least 351 Primary Health Centres across all the wards in the state before May 2023.
He expressed confidence that the Saki centre, as well as the Infectious Disease Centre in Ibadan, will help engender relevant research on diseases and enhance health care delivery in the state.
In particular, he noted that the centres will help in slowing down the spread of infectious diseases such as Lassa Fever, Yellow Fever, Tuberculosis that tend to ravage communities.
Makinde said: “It gives me great pleasure to be back here in Saki, less than three months after our last visit to commission this Infectious Disease Centre.
Facilities at the Saki centre include a ten-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU), High Dependency Unit (HDU) with piped oxygen, mechanical ventilators with humidifiers, patient monitors, CPAP machines with face shields and re-breather bags to deliver maximum oxygen requirements.
Makinde said: “When we started work on the conversion and upgrade of this facility, it was initially intended to be an Observatory, Isolation and Treatment Centre to support our efforts towards fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But, we also had more long-term goals to ensure that it fits into our overall plan to improve the healthcare system in the nooks and crannies in Oyo State.
“When we took over office last year, our healthcare system was not in the best shape. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to make the tough decisions to leverage on the situation and accelerate our plans to address the dilapidating healthcare infrastructure in Oyo State.
“We were pressured to create temporary isolation centres in stadiums and other open spaces, but we remained steadfast in our resolve to upgrade existing facilities because we saw an opportunity even in that state of despair.
“This infectious disease centre, as well as the one in Olodo, are direct results of our well-thought-out approach. When the history of Oyo State is written, it will be on the record, that this administration turned the existing infrastructure into state-of-the-art medical facilities.
“We are confident that the research that will be done at these centres will bring benefits to the people of Oyo State. And will contribute in no little measure to slowing down the spread of infectious diseases that often ravage our communities, such as Lassa Fever, Yellow Fever, Tuberculosis and others.
“Here, we have a ten-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with two Gradian State-of-the-Art mechanical ventilators with humidifiers, various accessories and three patient monitors. We also have two CPAP machines with face shields and re-breather bags to deliver maximum oxygen requirements.
“Additionally, we have a twelve-bed High Dependency Unit (HDU) with piped oxygen. Other facilities we have here at the Saki Infectious Disease Centre are:
“Twelve-bed Female General Ward, twenty-bed Male General Ward, an operating theatre and a recovery room.
“We also have some high-end laboratory and equipment that will aid research into infectious diseases. The medical community will be excited to know that we have Cobas c 111 analysers here now. Also, we have a Parameter Haematology Analyser, Clotting Profile Analyser, autoclave and biosafety cabinet.
“And to power this centre we have two diesel generators (400 KVA and 40KVA) and fourteen, 110 watts solar-street-lights for perimeter lighting. We also have a pharmacy, CCTV control room, mobile x-ray unit and more.
“As we upgrade these facilities, we will continue to equip them and maintain them. We will continue to ensure that these facilities have the best personnel that will attend to the needs of patients and clients.”
Giving his remarks, state commissioner for health, Dr Bashir Bello, said the Saki Specialist hospital has been equipped to serve the immediate and future needs of the Oke-Ogun residents in terms of advanced health care delivery.
Also speaking, the coordinator, Oyo State Isolation Centers, Professor Temitope Alonge, maintained that the newly commissioned facility is the most unique health care facility in Oyo State in the aspect of structure and status.