SEN. UMAHI COMMENDS WORK PROGRESS ON LAGOS-CALABAR COASTAL HIGHWAY PROJECT, RECOUNTS PROSPECTS OF RENEWED HOPE LEGACY PROJECTS TO  NATION'S ECONOMIC PROSPERITY.

-SAYS, PROJECT REVIEW ON AWARDED SECTIONS OF THE COASTAL HIGHWAY IMMINENT TO FACTOR ADJUSTMENT IN ALIGNMENT AND DELIVERABLES

The progress and quality of work   being done on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project has been commended as a signature of excellence and innovation on road infrastructure development by the Renewed Hope administration of the President of Nigeria, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR. This commendation was made by the Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi CON, when he paid inspection visits to Sections I and II of the project in Lagos being handled by Hitech Construction Company Ltd on 20th December 2024.

Speaking on  the deliverables of the investment, the Honourable Minister stated that the contract would  be reviewed  to accommodate landmark features that would  add value to the socio-economic potentials of the project. "We're going to plant trees. And of course, we are going to also have some lay bay. We can decide every five kilometres we have a lay bay where we connect all our CCTV cameras. And then we have vehicles and the security within the cabin there, so that the response time will be like 10 minutes. I'm sure that you've witnessed what we did at Third Mainland Bridge. That's what we intend to replicate in all our highways. And so the entire stretch of 750 kilometers to Calabar will be under CCTV, powered by solar. And then every five kilometers or 10 or 15, as we may agree, we will have portal cabin where we have security posts, no blocking of the roads, we have a viewing centre, and then you view the entire stretch left and right. We will agree on the number of kilometers, depending on the capacity of the cameras." On the imperative of the contract review,  he further stated," The service lane was never envisaged, CCTV camera was never envisaged. There was no single item of work, like we're having in all the projects from the removal of topsoil, not to talk of the removal of debris.

He praised the vision  of Mr. President in initiating legacy  projects that would  connect  the critical economic corridors and boost  transportation ecosystem in the 6 Geo- political Zones. He noted that the four Renewed Hope legacy projects and the inherited ongoing projects were on course and that milestone  project execution was adopted to ensure a sense of equality  among  the 6 Geo-Political Zones. He said that  some of the sections of the projects  being executed nationwide, including  the inherited ongoing projects, would  be ready for commissioning  by May 2025.  "Work is progressing on Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. We have the Sokoto- Badagry Superhighway. Work is seriously in progress on the project. The first 120 km, work is going on Sokoto. It has been procured. And work is going on by Hitech, using concrete. 
And then, you have the Kebbi section, 250 km. Work is also going on there. And so, we believe strongly that we'll be able to have about 20 km in both sections to commission by May 29th. In section one of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway in South West, we are very sure that we'll commission the first 20 km in section one and 10 km in section two." He commended the intervention of Mr. President in the area of funding  of the projects despite his interventions in other critical priority sectors of the economy. "The President has given very serious attention to road infrastructure. Don't forget that this Coastal Highway and, of course, the four Legacy Projects all have the train track incorporated. The construction of the train track for this section I is going to take off in 2025. So this is what we are doing. And we believe strongly that the President is going to give the nation of Nigeria the road infrastructure that they have been yearning for."

Earlier in her welcome remarks, the Federal Controller of Works, Engr. Olukorede Kashia recounted the experiences encountered at the commencement of the project  but expressed confidence in the timely  delivery  of the project by  the contractor handling  the project. "We encountered a lot of issues which were not foreseen because they were really covered. Like I said earlier, when you're doing a preliminary design, you cannot do a borehole at every meter. So when you do, at one meter, you do another one at 20 meters. So, in the process of executing the project, we encountered a lot of refuse dumps. It was like this place was like Olushosun, where they dump dirt to the magnitude of about five meters depth in some places. And then the contractor has carted away all that and then replaced it with good soil. That's sand filling from the ocean, as you can see, good sand filling, and then we had to wait a little."  Others  who spoke during  the event were the Acting Director of Highways Road Design, Engr. Saidu Musa and the Managing Director of Hitech Construction Company Ltd, Dany Abboud