9th January, 2013
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State says completing the Lagos-Badagry Expressway is tied to funding, which the state government is currently grappling with.
The governor also disclosed plans to build 1008 flats estate this year in Ijora area of the state as part of plans to enable many people own their homes.
Fashola spoke during a tour of projects across Lagos, southwest Nigeria on Tuesday, saying that funding is one of the determinants of the project.
He explained thatbit is one of the reasons why he went to the House of Representatives to appeal for the approval of a second tranche of 200 million dollars loan out of the 600 million dollars World Bank loan which the government intends to use part of to finance the project.
He said he could not give a date of completion as it is tied to so many things, including challenges that were observable and “those that are not very observable but surface on the field and have to be solved.”
He said that contrary to insinuations in certain quarters that works on the road had stopped, a lot of work is actually going on, adding that what “is going on now is a soil replacement process as shown by the observed heaps of sand because the soil in the area has become unsuitable having been used as a refuse dump over the years.
“There is also a pipe network just as there is a need to take care of a gas pipeline and the relocation of all the electricity cables. The construction workers cannot just go in and remove PHCN cable without getting the PHCN involved.
“We are at the stage where we are relocating facilities. That is why to the uninformed, it would appear as if we have stopped work. We have not stopped work, relocation of those facilities is going on,” he stated.
Fashola also said the issue of relocation of affected residents was also on going as compensation was being given to people who have had to give up their properties so that the work could be done.
“So, be very sure that casting and preparation of all the concrete is going on behind the scene. By the time we finish the relocation and the contractor moves to positioning the things, it would be quicker than you think and you would think it happened overnight,” he stated.
On the Okota Road expansion, Fashola stated that the community had outgrown the road and that there was a need to expand it, saying this explained the need to increase infrastructure investment.
He said that the population had grown many times past where the government did not build infrastructure to support the road, stressing that as government moved to address that deficit the population has not stopped growing.
“So, we are trying to expand Okota Road and some of the properties needed to give way. Everybody wants a good road but no one wants it to pass through his house. So, some of the tenements took us to court and I think we have settled out of court now and we have to pay compensation,” he said.
On the Light Rail Project, Fashola said the first phase of the project would be ready in June, while work on the rail would continue to Okokomaiko even as the expansion of the Lagos-Badagry expressway continues.
“You know we have the two projects linked together, the road expansion and the Light Rail simultaneously.”
And now we are trying to see how we can take the rail from the National Theatre to Marina. Hopefully, when that is done, we can heave a sigh of relief. Though there is still work to be done, so far so good.
“This is what we do with the money which we borrow; we do not borrow money to pay salaries, we don’t borrow money to run our overhead. We are investing it in infrastructure. This is the type of transportation that I dream for this country; this is the type of transportation that I dream for this state and not mass transportation by motorcycles,” he stated.
He noted that China opened what is, perhaps, the fastest high speed rail in the world that covered about 300 kilometres per hour, stressing that, “why can’t that happen here? It is really no rocket science, if we can’t invent it, we can buy it and that is what we are doing. We are buying facilities to have it installed here.” The governor urged residents of Iganmu not dump refuse along the road, saying that there was need to keep the surroundings of the project clear of refuse, adding that “you should take ownership of the project”
Projects inspected by the governor during the tour are the Iganmu, Alaba and Mile 2 Light Rail Stations, on-going projects at the Lagos State University (LASU), Maternal and Child Care Centre, FESTAC, Okota-Ago Palace Road, Ejigbo-Ajao Link Bridge, network of roads around Jimoh Ajao Street, Igando HOMS and Resettlement Relief Camp, Igando, on-going projects at Alimosho General Hospital (School of Nursing and Hostel among others) and Samuel Jinadu Street at Markaz area of Orile Agege, among others.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga