By Maduka Nweke
The Federal Government has pledged its commitment to adequately fund the repair works on the three major Lagos bridges billed to start soonest, saying the project will gulp N146 billion.
The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, who was on inspection tour recently in the company of the Coordinating Minister of Finance and the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, contractors and top directors of the Federal Ministry of Works, spent almost two hours in boats navigating under the bridges. After inspecting the lagoon sections, the ministers went on land to inspect the under deck of Carter bridge and Ijora section of Eko bridge.
They later inspected the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the ongoing rehabilitation of flyover at Lotto junction.
Both ministers, last Tuesday, undertook the inspection of the ongoing rehabilitation of the top deck of the third mainland bridge.
While fielding questions from journalists, Umahi said the joint assessment was for his Finance and Economy counterpart to have firsthand knowledge of the projects and cost implications. He noted that President Bola Tinubu had approved funds for comprehensive works on the two carriageways of the third Mainland Bridge, address challenges on the slab elements and ensure adequate maintenance of the bridges.
He raised the alarm over the degeneration of the Marina shorelines, which he described as an awaiting disaster because the damage was threatening the pillars of the Lagos Blue Rail Line. He said though the shorelines required N146 billion but noted that only N1 billion was available for the project in the budget. He expressed satisfaction with the ongoing repair works on the top deck of the third mainland bridge, adding that the repair would be completed and the bridge reopened to motorists latest by April. “It is going to be a classic reinstated bridge by the time we finish,” he said.
The Minister assured that contractors would begin work on the under deck and lagoon sections of the Third Mainland and Carter bridges next week, adding that advertisement for bids for facilities on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were also set to begin within a week.
In his contribution, Edun expressed satisfaction with the designs, implementation and costs of the projects. He assured of adequate funding of all infrastructure in line with the core agenda of the President Bola Tinubu to further grow the nation’s economy, he said.
the federal government was working towards achieving 77 per cent increase in its internally generated revenue to boost the economy and fund critical infrastructure across the nation.
Edun restated the commitment of President Tinubu to economic growth, restoration and digitalisation of the economy, infrastructural
development, putting policies in place while blocking long standing
leakages caused by fuel subsidy. He urged the NNPC Ltd. to take
advantage of opportunities in the oil market to shore up revenue for
the nation. Speaking about the degraded Marina shorelines, he said, “a
stitch in time saves nine,” pledging urgent intervention in line with
Tinubu’s vision.