Lagos- Nigeria – The Ongoing construction of the new Lagos-Ibadan Standard gauge rail line has been faced with a lot of challenges the worst of it are the two bridges in Lagos State which has stalled the Project.
The two bridges, Costain and Jibowu are obstructing the ongoing construction and as a result of this, both the State government and the federal government of Nigeria have decided to bring down the two bridges to give way for the new rail.
Last month the Minister for Transportation Mr. Rotimi Amaechi hinted that the bridges would be pulled down when he met with the Steering Committee of the project and the contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), in Lagos
The minister who paid a visit to the governor of Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode on the issue announced the intention of the contractor, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, to demolish the two bridges to give way to the new rail line. That new bridges would be immediately constructed, the Lagos State Government had then suggested digging further into the ground to accommodate the new rail track to be laid under the bridges.
The Minister while on inspection on the rail projects from Lagos to the Ogun States after a meeting of the Project Steering Committee disclosed that the Federal Government had told the contractor to complete the rail project by December 2018 as against March 31, 2019, initial completion date.
He said, “We have a target date but there is no way you can do construction without challenges in different forms and you have to address them. The challenges are not even here (at the Ogun end of the project). “The challenges are worse in Lagos. We are dealing with water, drainage, gas, power and the military. Here we are dealing with just gas and maybe a few power transmission lines and we can manage that.”
A notice by the contractor handling the project stated the completion date for the railway is March 2019, but Amaechi told journalists that the government was driving the Chinese firm to get the job done before December 2018. He said, “We are chasing the Chinese to finish the contract before December 2018. Don’t forget that the contract is for three years.”
The new Lagos-Ibadan railway project, located in the Western part of Nigeria, passes through Abeokuta in Ogun State to Ibadan in Oyo State. The laying of tracks for the 150 kilometres Lagos- Ibadan rail would commence in April 2018. The project contractor commenced work on June 1, 2017, and March 31, 2019, was stated as the completion date.
