Newsfront Online …Telling the Public as it is
The Federal Government, on Thursday, confirmed that it would pay compensation to all property owners along the path the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway would be passing through across nine states.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, who said President Bola Tinubu had approved the payment of compensation to all affected property owners, also listed the necessary requirements and conditions affected residents must meet to qualify for the compensation.
While clarifying that the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal Highway would tentatively gulp N15.36tn or N4.39bn per kilometre, the minister said the government had extended the eviction notice for property owners affected in the multi-trillion naira project. He also said the legacy project would be delivered in eight years.
The 700km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project is designed to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through the coastal states of Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Edo Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom, before culminating in Cross River.
Umahi, while speaking at a stakeholders meeting with affected residents in Lagos, said that the works ministry would only provide compensation to deserving individuals based on approved documents. He said an environmental impact assessment valuation had been concluded on the affected buildings, noting that owners of shanties and illegal buildings would not be paid.
The figure was, however, contrary to the N4bn cost per kilometre earlier stated by the minister when he appeared on Television Continental News Hour programme on Wednesday. This was as the Nigerian Society of Engineers backed the government on the project, encouraging Nigerians to focus on its potential investment value rather than dwell on the perceived high pricing.
But responding to a question on the project cost on Thursday, the minister said each kilometre of the coastal road would have cost more than N4.36bn but for the government’s prudence and cost effective measures.
“Can I give you the tentative project cost? Multiply N4.39bn by five, which are the lanes and then multiply by 700km which would give a total cost of N15.36tn. But this is a tentative figure. You know, there are other projects not awarded by me that are also going for about N4bn per kilometre.
“What is costing a lot of money is the sand filling and I am very proud of this figure and cost and I did a very good job on this project. So, I will pride myself, to the glory of God, that this project is the most prudent project that I’m starting. Other projects I made, we are reviewing, we are fighting, and we are trying to review, the cost.”
Commenting on the cost, the President of the Nigerian Highway Infrastructure and Transport Engineers, Hassan Saidu, said the government should be applauded for taking the bold step to construct the road after many failures by previous administrations.
NHITE is the road and transport division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers. Saidu, while speaking in an exclusive interview with one of correspondents on Thursday, said Nigerians should not solely focus on scrutinising the total cost of the project but should consider the potential revenue it would generate in terms of investments.
He said, “The coastal project started with the Niger Delta Commission in 2013 when they appointed consultants to look at roads that transverse about nine states. I believe as a nation we have to understand this. Remember that several administrations failed to kickstart that project just like what we faced on the second Niger Bridge.
“What we fail to understand is that when it comes to cost of building infrastructure, especially the road infrastructure which is the backbone of economic development and growth, we don’t have to look at just the total cost of the project but how much the project can bring back in terms of Investments.
“So if we start looking at the cost now and say it is expensive, when are we going to start building it? That means the project won’t see light of day and for the attempt to start construction, the institution commends the government by taking the bull by the horn to commence the project.”
Toll gate
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has hinted that it would likely charge an average of N3,000 each as toll for vehicles using the Lagos-Calabar coastal road upon its completion.
While dismissing insinuations that the budgeted cost for the project was high, the minister said the money invested would be made back in 15 years. “Let me leave out the infrastructure along the corridor. Let me just concentrate on the tolls and I put 50,000 vehicles as an average passage on these toll points per day,”
“I put N3,000 as an average cost. N3,000 because the cars could be like N1,500, and the big trucks could be like N5,000. So, we put an average of 15 years, you make back the money,” he said. He said there would be security at the toll gates and also some facilities like filling stations. “At every point of tolling, we also have toll station where we have a kind of relief activities: the restaurants, filling stations, parking lots, and so on and so forth,” Umahi said.
(PUNCH)
