The Minister of Transportation, M r Rotimi Ameachi has expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of work going on, on the Ebute-Metta Apapa railway axis.
Ameachi lamented that nothing has been done so far on the axis even as he revealed that the April completion deadline for the Lagos-Ibadan rail project was no longer feasible.
The Minister explained that due to the quantum of work yet to be done, especially on the extension of the rail line to the seaport, he said the April completion deadline might no longer hold
Ameachi who was accompanied on the tour by the minister of state of transportation; Mrs Gbemisola Saraki, and the Executive Governor, Oyo State, Seyi Makinde on the first visit of the year to the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway line however assured that the contractors will continue to work and redouble the efforts to complete the project and meet set targets.
He added that he will meet with the management of Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), Flour Mills of Nigeria and important stakeholders over the slow pace of work.
He said China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) had given excuses that the delayed its as a result of vessel at the seaport that cannot even berth because of congestion and the long queue and the crisis of congestion.
In his words "At least, you are impressed with Omi-Adio. The last time we came here, we have to suspend work because they were using what they referred to as stone dust.
“The worst is from Ebute Meta to Apapa. That is painful and that will be the focus from now henceforth.
“All sorts of excuses, I have asked to meet with management of NPA on Thursday or Friday to resolve those issues.
“Again, the second excuse they have is that their (CCECC) vessels are at the seaport, they cannot even berth because of the long queue and the crisis of congestion.
“So, we will address it with NPA. Everybody will be at the meeting.
“NPA, CCECC and TEAM will all be at the meeting,” he said.
TEAM — Technics Engineering Architecture Marketing Nigeria Limited — is a consultant involved in the project
Furthermore, "You should know that we got two contracts here. The first contract is from Ebutte-meta to Ibadan.
"The second contract is from Ebutte-meta to Apapa seaport which is about five to six kilometres”
"Also, we have always had problem with Lagos because of the urban nature of Lagos.
"You have a lot of demolitions to do, you have to deal with pipes, even oil pipes when it gets to the seaport. So, that is why we have all this burden and it is not that easy but I think they are making progress" he said.
He said that Lagos section of the project was slow because of gridlock affecting movement of construction materials as well as several utilities in the Right of Way of the project.
Oyo State Governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, who was on the minister’s entourage from Lagos to Ibadan, expressed satisfaction at the progress achieved on the project.
“For me personally, it is a wake up call for us in Oyo State because the tracks are already here.
“We need to brace up to be able to do what we need to do on the state government side so that the handshake can be seamless and the benefits can come to our people immediately,” he said.
The governor said that the project would help decongest Lagos and improve tourism and business opportunities in Oyo State using the rail.
He said that the state government would also play its part to ensure infrastructure connectivity and security around the rail transport.
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