Insufficient Funds Slowing Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Construction – Fashola
Category: Nigeria News
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on
Thursday, revealed that the problem of insufficient funds and the increasing
price of construction materials were the only issues delaying the completion
of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
This was as he blamed the previous
administration for neglecting critical infrastructure.
READ: Pipeline Explosion Causes Gridlock on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
Fashola made the revelation when he appeared on Television Continental
programme, Your View, where he said crash barriers returned to the site
because of the volume of vehicles plying the road, as he pleaded for patience
and cooperation with the contractors.
He added that the last mile
of the project would be completed in the first quarter of 2023.
He
said, “Let me first appreciate commuters who use that road, a major transport
artery in Nigeria for their understanding. This road could have been built
between 1999 and 2015 but it wasn’t. This road is in better shape than we
inherited and it is now at the last mile of completion.
READ: 15 Dies in Multiple Accidents Along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway (Graphic Pictures)
“The major source of delay first is funding.
“You remember
at a point this road was removed from the budget completely and I was engaging
the National Assembly until the president unveiled the presidential
infrastructure development fund which was essentially from investments from
the Nigerian LNG and funds recovered from outside Nigeria.
“So,
when people talk about corruption and anti-corruption, a president who goes to
recover funds stolen and put it in investment for his people is the real
anti-corruption as far as I am concerned.
“On the crash barriers,
they are there because we are building through a major transport artery. Our
last traffic count indicates that at least N40,000 vehicles use that road from
the Lagos end to the Sagamu end.
READ: Oyo Monarch’s Daughter, Among Those Kidnapped On Lagos/Ibadan Expressway
“After Sagamu it drops to 22 thousand so that has to be managed to
ensure the safety of the construction workers.
“We closed site
work in December because traditionally construction companies shut down
mid-December and resume mid-January.
“We are still expecting to
finish the project in the first quarter.”
READ: Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Kidnapping: Oyo, Ogun Police Deploy Personnel
When asked about solutions to reduce gridlock, he said, “You can’t
expect to drive fast in a construction zone, there will be a bit of slowdown
and it is in that slowdown that ‘how we behave’ becomes very important.”
Speaking further, the former Lagos governor disclosed that the
construction of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway had received funding of N7
billion from the new Sukuk bonds assuring that the pains of Ogun residents
would be alleviated soon.
SEE: Photos: Petrol Tanker and Car on Fire Along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
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