The Federal Government has given indication that the 750-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway contract would be reviewed to accommodate some features which include security cameras, lay bays, security cabins, security-post, and viewing centres among other things.
Speaking while inspecting the progress of work on the project, the Minister of Works, Engineer Nweze Dave Umahi, noted that the government would replicate the facilities on Third Mainland Bridge on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
“We’re going to plant trees. And of course, we are going to also have some lay bays. We can decide every five kilometers we have a lay bay where we connect all our close circuit television (CCTV) cameras. And then we have vehicles and the security within the cabin there, so that the response time will be like 10 minutes. I’m sure that you’ve witnessed what we did at Third Mainland Bridge. That’s what we intend to replicate in all our highways. And so, the entire stretch of 750 kilometers to Calabar will be under CCTV, powered by solar. And then every five or 10 or 15 kilometers, as we may agree, we will have portal cabin where we have security posts, no blocking of the roads, we have a viewing centre, and then you view the entire stretch left and right. We will agree on the number of kilometers, depending on the capacity of the cameras.”
On the imperative of the contract review, he further stated: “The service lane was never envisaged; CCTV camera was never envisaged. There was no single item of work, like we’re having in all the projects from the removal of topsoil, not to talk of the removal of debris,” he said
He praised the vision of the President in initiating legacy projects that would connect the critical economic corridors and boost transportation ecosystem in the six geo-political zones. He noted that the four Renewed Hope legacy projects and the inherited ongoing projects were on course and that milestone project execution was adopted to ensure a sense of equality among the six geo-political zones. Umahi said that some of the sections of the projects being executed nationwide, including the inherited ongoing projects, would be ready for commissioning in May 2025.
“Work is progressing on Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. We have the Sokoto- Badagry Superhighway. Work is seriously in progress on the project. The first 120 km, work is going in Sokoto. It has been procured. And work is going on by Hitech, using concrete. And then, you have the Kebbi section – 250 kms. Work is also going on there. And so, we believe strongly that we’ll be able to have about 20 km in both sections to be commissioned by May 29. In section one of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway in South West, we are very sure that we’ll commission the first 20 kms in section one and 10 kms in section two,” he said
He commended the intervention of the President in the area of funding of the projects despite his interventions in other critical priority sectors of the economy.
“The president has given very serious attention to road infrastructure. Don’t forget that this coastal highway and, of course, the four legacy projects all have the train track incorporated.
“The construction of the train track for this section is going to take off in 2025. So, this is what we are doing. And we believe strongly that the president is going to give the people the road infrastructure that they have been yearning for,” he said.
Earlier in her welcome remarks, the Federal Controller of Works, Engineer Olukorede Kashia, recounted the experiences encountered at the commencement of the project but expressed confidence in the timely delivery of the project by the contractor handling the project.
“We encountered a lot of issues which were not foreseen because they were really covered. Like I said earlier, when you’re doing a preliminary design, you cannot do a borehole at every meter. So, when you do, at one meter, you do another one at 20 meters. So, in the process of executing the project, we encountered a lot of refuse dumps. It was like this place was like Olushosun (in Lagos), where they dump dirt to the magnitude of about five meters depth in some places. And then the contractor has carted away all that and then replaced it with good soil. That’s sand filling from the ocean, as you can see, good sand filling, and then we had to wait a little,” she explained.
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