By Emmanuella Oghenetega
To discount claims of cracks on section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Section 1 as purported in a trending video, the Minister of Work, Engr. David Umahi has reassured that there is no crack on the carriageway.
In a press briefing with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister stated, that there was absolutely no issue at all.
He expounded that, the section itself has not been fully completed, and that the cracks were noticed on the sand-filled shoulder, edge, of the legacy project.
He said, “That section has not been completed. Section one is 47.47 kilometres, KM, by six lanes. And so you have the main carriageway. You have the shoulder. And so where you noticed the the crack is the sandfilled section of the shoulder, not carriage way, with stone Base, where we are not presently working on because to work on the shoulder, we have to bury the cable ducts.
“And so you have the main carriageway, you have the shoulder. And so where you notice the crack is the sand filled section of the shoulder, not the carriageway, with stone base, where we are not presently working on. Because to work on the shoulder, we have to bury the cable ducts.
“We also have to put the underground drainage. People even say there is no drainage there. We have underground drainage running 750 kilometres by two.
“So when people build below our road level, because we took our road level bearing the higher than water the level of the coast, and you can’t blame us for doing that, but what is going to happen now, and I’ve said it before, is that there will be another contract that will take care of the environment.
“And it’s going to be a conversation between the local, state, and federal governments. So that service lanes will be introduced, and then the drainage will be at a lower level. And then we will find a way to connect it to the existing underground drainage.
“So ladies and gentlemen, that thing is not a structural failure at all. Whether it is concrete, sand, or laterite you are using, it is bound to happen. The moment water is pounding on it, it has to erode,” the minister explained.
The Minister said that he was marveled at the rapt interest by the public in the affairs of the Ministry, claiming that he had received over 500 concerns about the cracks people claimed to have noticed.
He said, “We’ve decided that we’ll be doing this thing very often in terms of briefing the press from time to time on the activities of the ministry. What is very encouraging is that the nation is very much interested in what the Ministry of Works is doing. It wasn’t like this before. And I think the reason is because Mr President is doing quite a lot in the area of infrastructure, such as roads that bridges, so any little thing on our roads, they start circulating it.
“I have gotten over 500 concerns about a crack they claimed to have noticed at the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway section one, and I was wondering whether they are doing so in good faith, or otherwise. Look, this is the project to be very proud of.”
He urged those who care to visit the project site and see for themselves the portions works have been completed, whether they would find such a thing.
“It is because we have closed every aspect of the sand field or stone base field areas. So please, I want the society to disregard that social media circulation.
“And to be assured that work is ongoing. I’ve directed them to go and close the places, since that’s what they want to see. So it’s not an issue at all. Disregard it. There is no section of the completed carriageway that has cracked, and it will not crack,” the minister added.
He also revealed that other emergency jobs that will be seen in Lagos soon, noting that “we are having a very deep conversation on the 3rd Mainland Bridge and Carter Bridge.”
He said it had been taken to the Federal Executive Council, FEC, and the chairman of the council, Mr President, directed that the administration articulate the exact situation and then bring it back for deliberation.
“So we won’t be able to say much on that until we have done that exercise as directed by the Federal Executive Council. And we’ll let you know.
“But we are sure that the Third Mainland Bridge is safe for light vehicles, but not for heavy vehicles. We have closed it against heavy vehicles, and that Carter Bridge also has issues that Mr President is going to address as soon as our memo is completed. We have also a problem with the heavy trucks that are loading beyond our headrooms and our flyovers,” Umahi explained.
