14th June, 2013
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Thursday commissioned the Paving Stone Production Line of the Lagos State Public Works Corporation at Ojodu, saying Government will continue to be creative and resourceful in its unceasing work to keep Lagos roads motorable.
The Governor who spoke with newsmen after cutting the tape at the very short event preceding his inspection of the Production Line in operation said what has just started running at the plant is the new paving stone making machine for interlocking blocks which would be useful in many water logged areas of Lagos where asphalt and bitumen doesn’t really thrive.
“But for me having bought this machine, the next step is how we are going to make this machine. I have already challenged the engineers, the next of these machines must be made in Lagos and they have the research funds and all those materials and we are not just going to be consuming. Everything we buy now, we want to know what works inside and how it works.”
Commending the management of the corporation for being innovative and forward looking, the Governor said, “So far, so good and the march continues and they have also built their own moulds to start casting drains and are increasingly becoming a local arm for building our roads, so the capacity is increasing and I think the workers are happy.”
The Governor said considering the tonnage of cargo on Lagos roads which he described as excruciating, there is no other city that has and subjects its roads to the kind of tonnage that Lagos experiences without rail for evacuating goods from the port and still keeps traffic moving like this.
“I tell people that keeping Lagos traffic moving with the cargo that comes through our ports everyday is perhaps the eighth miracle of the world. The Public Works Corporation is our parastatal for addressing the maintenance issue of our roads while the ministry uses contractors to build new roads.”
The Governor also noted that the agency is increasing its capacity as the asphalt plant that was down before is now up and running while also selling asphalt to other government agencies within and outside the state.
He added that a lot is happening in terms of human capacity development, welfare of the workers, health and safety in the yard and also the environmental aesthetics by trying to raise standards at the works yard, stressing that the journey continues.
The Governor was received by the Executive Chairman of the Public Works Corporation, Mr Gbenga Akintola and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Engineer Ganiyu Johnson as well as other senior officials of the Corporation.