President Tinubu Set to Flag-off Coastal Road, Commission Legacy Projects In Lagos
- As works Minister engages Stakeholders and payment of Compensation continues
The Minister of Works Engr David Umahi has said that President Bola Tinubu is set to flag off the Lagos-Calabar Coastal and to commission some legacy projects in Lagos.
The minister disclosed this during a stakeholders’ engagement on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal in Lagos, adding that they have fully redesigned section one and done the alignments and realignments.
He stated that the president has directed that the section three and four from Calabar should start immediately, while section five and six will be from PortHarcourt and Bayelsa.
He disclosed that when the section one to four road is completed it will be tolled for the return on investment to commence immediately.
He stated further that the benefit to the ships that will berth at the Apapa Port as it will serve as evacuation corridor, while the new corridor will have good tourism centres.
According to him, the road will be linked from Sokoto to Badagry which is 1000km and the third road from Benue-Kogi-Nasarawa to Abuja, adding that there will be an irrigation corridor on the third road.
He added that the ministry have four to five certifications from Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), adding that the first was issued on 23rd December 2023, second ESIA was issued in March 2024, third ESIA issued in April 2024 and the 4th ESIA was issued in May 2024.
Responding to the complaint raised by Dr. I.B Gashinbaki, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Machine and Equipment Corporation Africa (MECA) that submarine cables will be affected by the road construction at the MTN and Okun Ajah community, the minister allayed their fear, saying that they are now diverting the road from the new alignment to the old alignment and rejoining to the new alignment at Km 25.
The minister also informed those in Goshen Estate that they will take off one service lane and put a flyover to aid the traffic in the area.
He explained to those asking for compensation that there is gazetted rate for compensation and depreciation rate, adding that those who built on the gazetted way are not supposed to receive compensation, even those with shanties but all were considered in the payment due to the application of human face to the project.
Engr. Umahi announced that all the critical roads that they inherited are ongoing and they are holding the contractors accountable.
Responding to a question from CNN correspondent as to why the ESIA was not made public before the commencement of the project, the representative of the Minister of Environment, Mr Abas Sulaiman affirmed that the project has passed through due process of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment with certifications, stressing that the final document will be published on their website in three months time.
