Infrastructure: No new road projects in 2014, says Lagos commissioner for works

The Lagos State government has said it is not going to embark on new projects in the new year, assuring, however, that it would finish all ongoing projects in the state within the lifespan of the present administration led by Babatunde Fashola.

Obafemi Hamzat, the state commissioner for works, who disclosed this at an interactive section with the media in his office in Alausa, Ikeja, disclosed that in the outgone year, the state government initiated over 200 road projects out of which 83 have been completed.

The commissioner, who used the forum to review the activities of his ministry in 2013, also disclosed that the state government has, through the Public Works Corporation, rehabilitated about 900 roads across the state, adding that the state is constructing nine pedestrian bridges some of which have been completed while construction is continuing on others.

“The state government has road work in every local government area of the state and in building roads, we consider roads connectivity and the water moving capacity of the project; we also build roads to move people. People should, therefore, disabuse their minds of accusing the state government of being selective in its choice of road projects,” the commissioner stated.

He also dismissed allegations of abandoned projects in some parts of the state, explaining that roads are done in phases and no one road can be finished in just one year, “which is why the Phase 2 of Liasu Road in Egbe-Idimu LCDA has just taken off about 24 months after the Phase 1 was completed”.

He added that building roads in some areas could be very difficult for a number of reasons including the topography, citing the Yaya Abatan Road in Lekki where, he revealed, the relocation of pylons on the road required about N700 million.

The commissioner pointed out that court cases and built-up areas posed the greatest challenges in roads construction for the state government, explaining that some people felt they had the right to go court to stop a road project which, along with the difficulty in working within a built-up area, delayed projects completion.

On Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Hamzat said the problem with the road was not much about money as it was about issues relating to movement of construction equipment and creating the right of way.

He explained that it required over one million tonnes of sand to be conveyed by over 16,000 tippers to do the earthwork on the road, pointing out that mobilising that number of vehicles to the road would paralyse all movements on the whole place.

He added that they had held many stakeholder meetings on the relocation of facilities like PHCN cables as well as people’s houses that need to be demolished to create the right of way for the expressway.

Governor Babatunde Fashola had also assured that all ongoing road projects would be completed before he leaves office in the next two years, saying: “We build roads because roads define our way of life; it moves business and reduces travel time.”