Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
The Federal Government plans to spend N3bn on the rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway this year.
The amount, according information
obtained from the website of the Budget Office of the Federation, has
been provided for in the 2013 budget.
A breakdown of the figure shows that
N1.5bn is earmarked for the first section of the road from Lagos to the
Sagamu Interchange, while the balance is for the other section from the
interchange to Ibadan.
This has thus put on hold the initial
plan to offer the 125 kilometre road to a concessionaire for
reconstruction, modernisation and regular maintenance.
The Federal Government in November last
year terminated its concession agreement with Bi-Courtney Highway
Services Limited for the reconstruction of the road, accusing the firm
of undue delay and a breach of the concession agreement.
It immediately appointed Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and RCC Limited to take over the rehabilitation work.
While Julius Berger was asked to handle
the section from Lagos to the Sagamu Interchange, RCC was given the
second leg of the road, stretching from the interchange to Ibadan.
A source at the Federal Ministry of
Works told our correspondent on the telephone on Thursday that the
government was currently fine-tuning discussion with Julius Berger and
RCC on the rehabilitation contracts.
The source said the two contractors were
invited last year after the concession agreement with Bi-Courtney was
terminated just to recover the road and improve its poor state ahead of
the Christmas and New Year festivities.
“They are spelling out the details of
the contract in terms of the scope, duration and contract sum,” the
source said, but failed to give the termination date for the job.
Julius Berger had moved to the site last
year, shortly after Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen’s
announcement of the termination of the concession arrangement with
Bi-Courtney.
The contractor did some remedial work between the Redemption Camp and the Sagamu Interchange.
Although Julius Berger gave an
impression that it was coming to do a major work, moving workers and
materials to site as well as creating some work yards, it, however,
scrapped some areas of the road and left them unattended to.
An official of the company, who
volunteered to speak with our correspondent on the telephone under the
condition that his name would not be mentioned, said the firm did
exactly what it was asked to do.
He also said as soon as the company was
fully paid or substantially mobilised, it would return to work, adding,
“The ball is in the Federal Government’s court.”
Our correspondent could, however, not
confirm if RCC had done any repair work on its section of road since the
place was handed over to the firm.
The original plan was for a total
reconstruction of the existing carriageways from Lagos to Ibadan, with
the provision of two additional lanes in each direction between Lagos
and the Sagamu Interchange, making it four lanes; and one additional
lane from the interchange to Ibadan, in addition to the provision of
associated modern facilities such as trailer parks.
Those facilities are meant for free flow of traffic, security and welfare of road users.
PUNCH
No comments:
Post a Comment