FG pledges to Deliver more Road Projects Nationwide
- Minister commends HITECH Construction Company for speed, quality of work at Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project.
The Minister of Works, Sen. Engr. David Umahi in continuation of the inspection of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as well as the demolition of infrastructure on the Right of Way of Lagos-Calabar Highway also visited the Dangote Lekki Deep Sea Port Road to assess how the coastal road will align with it.
The Minister of Works, Sen. Engr. David Umahi addressed the press after the inspection tour with the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Engr. (Mrs) Olukorede Kesha, contractor and members of the press on the steps taken so far and the way moving forward in the road infrastructure development across the country.
The Minister of Works said that they have come to the end of section 1 phase 1 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to inspect and to realign the road.
Umahi said that “Initially we were thinking of allowing the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to join with what Dangote HITECH is constructing in front of Lekki Deep Sea Port. We looked at it and think that if we do that it will defeat the aim of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. So, at the express carriage way when you put your throttle, you will come to the other side without thinking. We have chosen another alignment that is going to be parallel to the road that is going to the Lekki Deep Sea Port at Kilometre 47.47 and that is the end of section 1. We are very happy with the decision. We will be constructing a flyover bridge across the Dangote/ Hitech concrete pavement that is coming from the Lekki Deep Sea Port going to Epe and joining the road that is coming from Lekki to Berger being done by the state government. Now we have seen that the filling has been done from Kilometre 47.47. We are excited with the quality and speed of work that is being done with enormous trucks, which shows the commitment of the contractor and we are confident that the coastal road will be constructed within the second tenure of Mr President.”
The minister disclosed that Mr President has also directed him to start the immediate design of the Sokoto-Badagry Coastal road of 1000 Kilometres.
He revealed that they have started the design and was very sure that very soon the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will approve it and they will be starting at the Sokoto side which is going to be at the zero point.
“We also have another spot that is going from Enugu-Abakaliki -Ogoja to Cameroon which is about 361 Kilometres going through Otupo to Benue to Apo in Abuja. We are also going to present it to Mr President. Then the coastal road which we are promising is going to circle the entire country from South East, South South, South West, North East, North Central, North West.
According to him, this will be a legacy that is never seen and it is God that asked Mr President to do this as a man of courage.
Speaking on the on-going demolition of infrastructure on the federal government’s right of way (ROW) on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the minister assured that they are not stopping the exercise and that it will take up to kilometre 4.
He advised that people should forget about the politics of LandMark, adding that he has asked him to produce his documents where he was given the land as he claimed.
“ I have gone through the documents and even the inch of the land that the Oniru gave to him is affected. It is land that has been shielded into the government property and he has been using it for years. And he is now going to the social media and saying that the shoreline was given to him. I have been to the palace of the Oniru and he said that the land was never given to Landmark. However, the shoreline from 250 belongs to the federal government. Even at that, he has no permanent structure on the shoreline. I have challenged him to publish before the public to attest that one inch of what they gave to him is within our right of way. I am very courageous to ensure that the road passes through where he is. There is no one of his permanent structure that is affected. I am not a politician, but just an engineer and my job is to do the work and his job is to play the politics which will not deter us,” the minister emphasized.
Umahi commended HITCH very highly for the job done so far, adding that they were slowed down by reason of the demolition that is now ongoing, which made HITECH to go to the end point and to start coming back.
“ We have started the demolition and we are going to continue from section A and open another section at the middle of the road. We have done the alignment not considering whether the alignment was following the gazetted right of way. We are considering the feeling of the people, looking at the economic value and making sure that as much as possible that the coastal highway also follows the legal right of way of the federal government.
“ Even most of the decisions we have taken so far are affecting the contractor’s convenience and the cost of the project and I am not adjusting anything about the cost. That is one thing about our own contractors, it is money, money on any action you take, but we will continue to do our best until our contractual agreements are respected.
“The demolition, the design and the construction have the fear of God and human face,” he added.
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