FG gives delivery date for Lagos road project

The federal government assured residents of Lagos on Saturday that the first part of the ongoing reconstruction / rehabilitation of the Apapa-Oshodi-Ojota-Oworonsoki highway project would be completed within three weeks.

The federal works controller in Lagos, Mr. Olukayode Popoola, who gave the assurance during a joint inspection with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), said the first section of the road would be opened afterwards.

Popoola said the rehabilitation works, which had been divided into four sections, were aimed at reducing port congestion and traffic jams on the Apapa axis.

The Nigeria News Agency (NAN) reports that the first section runs from Liverpool Round at Creek Road to Beachland near Sunrise and is about 10 km, while section two is 8.4 km and s’ Stretches from Beachland to the Cele bus stop.

NAN further reports that the reconstruction / rehabilitation of the Apapa-Oshodi-Ojota-Oworonshoki highway project was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2018 to resolve the traffic jams in Apapa.

The contract was awarded to AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd at a cost of 73 billion naira under the federal government’s tax credit system.

NPA Director General Hadiza Usman led a delegation that joined the Ministry of Public Works team for an on-site assessment of the construction work.

After a brief meeting under the Liver Pool Round Bridge to assess the ongoing rehabilitation work on the bridge ramp, the inspection continued through the second gate of Tin-Can Island to the Beach Land / Sunrise area.

Conclusions were drawn after long deliberations between the two teams and Hitech Construction Company, the subcontractor managing the project on behalf of the Dangote group.

At the reporters briefing, Popoola said gray areas regarding accessibility due to trucks violating the construction zone and disagreements over the pace of construction had been resolved.

He said that the inspection allowed the NPA delegation to see for themselves that the contractor had been working gradually.

“And this section that we are is the end of the first section that we completed. We will complete the remaining part in the next three weeks, especially the asphalt work.

“So in these three weeks, the exceptional work will be fully completed, then the first section will be made available to motorists.

“We (FMW) have also complained about trucks creeping into the road while we are working. We told them (NPA) that we cannot allow the trucks to flow into the section where we are working because they will disturb the contractor.

“The trucks will now be fully monitored and controlled.

“The security of the NPA, the Nigerian police, LASTMA and then the representative of the contractor will form a synergy to determine how they will now control the trucks entering the port road,” Popoola said.

The controller added that an agreement had also been made for the contractor to move to the site to begin construction work on section two of the newly awarded project.

He said work on sections three and four had progressed, adding that they had been over 70% complete in total.

Popoola said the entire project will be completed and handed over within the next nine to 10 months, including the second section which had just been awarded.

The chief executive of NPA said agreements had been made on the timelines for construction work so as not to disrupt port operations.

Usman also said resolutions have been made to ensure the contractor works weekends and holidays to reduce congestion.

She said it was resolved that a corridor would be opened for truck movement in addition to palliative work on some roads and another inspection in three weeks on the first section.

She promised that the movement of trucks would be sequenced, adding that a synergy meeting would be held to determine how the movement of trucks in batches would work.

Usman added that discussions are underway with the Lagos state government on how to ensure law enforcement against truck driver extortion as well as the clean-up of shacks and social disbelievers.

“And I think the sanitation of the area is what will allow us to have this sanity and get the construction done.

“The removal of all these slums and illegal structures around the port corridors is what will allow us to remove the presence of criminals who harass truck drivers,” she said.