Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has constituted a committee to review the report on the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment in respect of compensation for section 1 of the Lagos- Calabar Coastal Highway project.
Stressing that it was in keeping with the established rules on compensation and the ideals of transparency, a statement by Umahi’s spokesman, Uchenna Orji, said the committee is made up of 19 members.
The committee is required to interface with stakeholders and property owners that will be affected by the project with a view to recommending those who are entitled to receive compensation from federal government as required by law.
The minister directed that the committee should work strictly within the terms of reference, which is to verify and authenticate the list of those to be compensated and submit a report within 10 days effective April 18, 2024.
He said: “We are setting up a review committee to look at the work done by the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA,) and the works to be reviewed by this committee is very simple.
“It’s just to interact with the property owners that are going to be affected, and then in their presence, in the presence of the committee and the ESIA Consultant and the contractor, look at the compensation as enumerated to be paid, and where possible, you visit the site.
“ We are using the federal rates to do our enumeration. I know very well that there is nobody that is ever enumerated that is ever satisfied with how much is to be paid, but we are bound by the law, and so we are using federal rates,” Umahi said.
He promised to ensure a seamless and timely payment of compensation on the Lagos- Calabar Coastal Highway project, but warned that only those legally entitled to compensation would be shortlisted.
He said: “The moment the property owner signs, and then we have a form that we give to them to fill, and indicate the bank account; the moment that is done, within 72 hours, we authorise payment.
“The contractor is going to be paying directly to all those who are affected, and this we are committed to doing. This verification will start Wednesday in Lagos, and of course, we have to make it very clear that 250 meters legally belongs to the federal government.
“ So if you have a title within these 250 meters and it’s not a title from federal government, then it is in encumbrance, and only Mr. President can give a waiver if he feels so for the person to be paid,” the minister added.
The meeting which was held via zoom in the minister’s conference hall Mabushi-Abuja with the affected property owners and other stakeholders, was in furtherance of the resolutions earlier reached in the stakeholders engagement in Lagos on April 11, 2024 .
