Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, yesterday expressed satisfaction over the quality and pace of work being carried out on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway.
The first phase of the new 700km highway is expected to run through the nine coastal states, beginning from Victoria Island. It has five lanes on each side of the dual carriageway and a train track in the middle. The superhighway is being built by Hitech Construction Company.
The minister described the highway as one of the most critical projects in the works sector and an important national economic pillar.
Umahi revealed that the federal government was interfacing with all host states along the highway to provide the needed land for the establishment of economically viable towns along the infrastructure to enable close communities reap the full economic benefits associated with the facility.
He said the that dredging processes, excavation works, dewatering and sand-filling as well as placement of crushed stone base, cement stabilisation of the base course, drainage works and culverts, among other processes, were progressing satisfactorily. The first phase of the highway is to be completed within 36 months.
According to the minister, provision has been made for a train station at the Ikorodu junction of the road, which will also provide a link to the Ikorodu-Sokoto highway, a statement the Director Press and Public Relations, Ben Goong.
Also speaking during the inspection tour, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Barinada Mpigi and the Chairman House Committee on Works, Akin Alabi on behalf of their colleagues promised the support of the National Assembly in the area of funding through appropriation.
Conducting the minister and members of the National Assembly as well as other relevant stakeholders through several kilometres of the stretch of the road, Federal Controller of Works, Lagos state, Olukorede Kesha, promised the minister that she will monitor the project to ensure that the job is delivered to specification and in record time.
