Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, has said the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway is already fulfilling its purpose as the Federal Government pushes to complete Section One of the project.
Umahi spoke on Saturday during an inspection tour of the highway, expressing optimism about meeting the project timeline.
“I am very eager to see how we can fully complete this Section One by April this year, so that we can have it fully commissioned, a stretch of Section One and a significant part of Section Two,” he said.
The minister acknowledged the challenges encountered along the route but commended Hitech Construction Company Ltd., the contractor handling the project, for its commitment and performance.
“We are terribly being challenged because of the realignment that we have encountered.
”What we are witnessing in Kilometre 34 has nothing to compare with what we had in Kilometre 20, where we had a pit of over 25 metres deep, and Hitech was able to remove them and then loaded them with lumps and sharp sand.
“I continue to thank Hitech. Lagosians and other Nigerians have been enjoying the road, and I have seen the reason behind the dreams of over 27 years,” Umahi said.
He disclosed plans to personally inspect the project every month to ensure it is ready for inauguration by President Bola Tinubu before the end of April.
According to him, the President may also inaugurate about 50 per cent of Section Two of the highway within the same period.
“We have not been here since we temporarily opened it for traffic and we are very happy that the coastal road is serving its purpose.
“I am very happy with what I have seen out of the 47.47 kilometres, excluding the bridges, which is part of Section Two,” he said.
Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olufemi Dare, briefed the minister on the difficulties being faced at Channaige 34.
“We encountered another very deep swampy area here as we can see. We have dredged here and there from 34 to 37, 38,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Dare assured that work was progressing steadily, noting that dredging was ongoing to accelerate construction.
“The dredging operation is ongoing in order to fast-track the process, and whenever we finalise and we push the sand on top of water level, we are continuing with sharp sand as well as stone base.”
