- Orders contractors to deliver Blue, Red Rail projects on time
- Rail projects not APC’s ploy to get votes in 2023, says Amaechi
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu revealed yesterday that the Ikeja overpass bridge would be delivered a month or two before the end of August 2022, the initial deadline.
The project aims to alleviate the pain of commuters traveling on the Agege-Motor Road.
Speaking after inspecting sections of the Blue and Red lines rail project, Sanwo-Olu said the state government has asked the contractor to complete the work before the above deadline. According to him, marching orders have been given to respect the deadlines.
The governor, who was on the flyover bridge and at the Yaba, Oyingbo and Marina train terminals, praised the contractors for meeting deadlines and working even on holidays.
He said the quarterly inspection was part of efforts to ensure contractors delivered projects on time or a month or two before the scheduled delivery date.
In Yaba, the governor told the merchants that they would be relocated. He urged them not to be squeamish but to cooperate with the government.
The governor was accompanied by commissioners, special advisers, and heads of agencies, including the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso; and Budgeting and planning, Sam Egube.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi has said that the vigor with which the Federal Government is working to connect the country by rail should not be misinterpreted as a ploy to convince Nigerians to vote for the ruling party in the general elections of 2023.
Amaechi had previously identified ethnic prejudice and politicization as some of the factors hampering railway development in the country.
But while inspecting the ongoing construction of the Kano-Kaduna railway project, he said: “I have told people not to politicize the railway project. Don’t make it look like there are political motives behind the construction. ”
According to him, “as a government, we are determined to carry out the projects, once the resources are there.”
The minister noted that the goal of inspecting the project was to see if the contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), was on track to deliver the project in late 2022 or in the first quarter of 2023.
He said that all affected lands belonging to people or otherwise have been fully compensated, as the first element of the 206 km project implementation strategy was the provision of full compensation. He challenged anyone who has not been fully compensated to write to the ministry.
The minister, who also visited the ongoing $ 50 million Transport University project in Daura, Katsina state, which is being implemented by CCECC, expressed dismay at the level of work.
He said: “We have invited you to the office on Tuesday (today) to come and explain why, instead of taking the buildings at the same time, they only take two shelters, two classrooms, staff quarters, a laboratory and an office. . complex. That’s not enough.”