By Guardian Nigeria
The Federal Government has marked 700 properties for demolition for the Lagos-Calabar Highway project.
Lagos State Controller of Works, Mrs Olukorede Kesha, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting on the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
According to her, the number was significantly lower than initial estimates.
“Instead
of having to demolish about 1,500 houses, we took the most economical
route. Now we are left with less than 700 houses to be demolished,” she said.
She
lauded the pace and planning of the project, stating that Section 1 of
the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is 47 plus 400 kilometres, was
awarded some time ago.
Addressing concerns over alignment and
property demolition, Kesha said a lot of people complained about set
alignments, but they are not duty-bound to follow any alignment.
“It
was set aside when somebody else was to do it, but now that it’s the
Federal Government, we have to look at the most feasible, most
economical route,” she said.
Earlier, the Minister of Works,
David Umahi declared that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will not
only revolutionise Nigeria’s transport landscape but also generate
carbon credits through its eco-friendly construction and design.
He explained that the road will ease traffic congestion and integrate multi-modal transport infrastructure.
“This
project is going to evacuate all the traffic out of the town, and that
will be a big plus for us. We are not only building for today. We are
also building for tomorrow. And, of course, there will be a rail line in
the middle. The middle is 12 metres gap,” he stated.
The minister added that some areas would also have train stations and facilities for future developments.
Addressing
the challenges in Section two of the project, Umahi said the existing
industrial infrastructure posed a serious challenge, noting that with
Dangote refinery, one needs about 60 metres clearance for the trucks to
go in and out.
He said: “We are now building a flyover that has a
span of 60 metres. And then the next span is 41.6 metres,
counterbalanced by the next span, and then the rest is 22, 23 metres.
“So,
we are flying over Dangote’s refinery, we are flying over Dangote’s
fertilizer, and we are flying over some other conflict points.”
On plans for further expansion, Umahi said there are extensive ongoing and planned projects across several states.
“We have started in Cross River, and of course, Akwa Ibom. We are going there to flag off the construction,” he stated.
Touching on the Sokoto-Badagry legacy project, the minister explained the challenges and solutions being considered.
He revealed that the third section of Sokoto-Badagry is going to start from Badagry, where there are very big challenges.
According
to him, there are three kilometres of rivers across the stretch, and it
would cost a lot of money to deal with them. He, however, said they
have devised about four options to handle it.
Umahi said the four
legacy projects are connected and inclusive, explaining that the third
legacy project is the one that is coming from Calabar, going through
Ebonyi, Enugu, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Abuja.
“The fourth
legacy project goes from Abuja to Makurdi, Keffi, Akwanga, Jos, Bauchi,
and Gombe. The four legacy projects are all connected together and no
region is left aside,” he said.
The minister issued a stern warning against the misuse of infrastructure. https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria/metro/fg-to-demolish-700-houses-for-lagos-calabar-highway/
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