By Chris Paul Otaigbe
Following the slow pace of work on the Lagos-Ibadan railway project, the Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi has tasked the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) to fastrack work on the standard gauge rail line.
He urged the Chinese construction firm to deploy more men and equipment on site in order to fastrack the project, especially along the Ebute-Metta to Apapa seaport corridor.
The Minister gave this charge on Friday in Lagos after he undertook an emergency inspection tour of the project in the company with the Chairman of CCECC Group, Zhao Dialong, who was on a working visit to the country.
While appreciating the level of work done in just four days of the last inspection, the Minister observed: “The last time we were here, I complained about the fact that they were very slow and when their Chairman told me that he was coming to visit, I requested that we go to the project site and see how far they have gone.
“There is remarkable progress from the day we came till now.” He said.
However, he continued: “moving forward, we have been saying that they should add to their manpower and deploy more equipment to (tally)with the volume of work on ground.” The Minister complained.
On whether the completion date of the project was still feasible considering the improvement noticed, the Minister said, “as far as am concerned (mentally), I’m almost out of Lagos. I’m critically trying to focus on Kano-Kaduna, Ibadan-Ilorin, Ilorin to Minna and then to Abuja.”
Concerning the legal implications of not deliverig the project at the stipulated time, the Minister advised that rather than look at the law, emphasis should be on practicality.
For him the issue about non completion of the project at the stipulated time frame is complex.
“The original time for the expiration of the contract is May, but you see, they made an argument which you cannot also fault; the argument they made was for additional works which gave them up to six months, so if you add the six months to the May expiration date, you are probably talking about next year.
“Instead of looking at the law, we should look more on practicality and compel them to speed up the pace of work.” He offered.
According to him, these additional works included the minor stations and the underpasses which were not part of the first contractual agreement and were only added as afterthoughts, to address the nagging problem of the Apapa gridlock.
Also speaking, the Chairman, CCECC Group, Zhao Dialong said changes in project location affected completion of the stations and tracks.
He said the projects were initially designed in a manner that the tracks will be done simultaneously with the stations.
“We even planned to finish the stations first, but we failed because of changes in location “he explained.
Reacting to the Minister’s accusation that even materials that can be sourced locally are brought from China, the Group Chairman, CCECC, explained that most of the materials and equipment for the project can not be sourced locally.
Furthermore, he appealed to the Minister to intevene in their inability to berth their vessels due to the perennial long queues at the seaports in Lagos.
In his contribution, the Managing Director, Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Engr. Fidet Okhiria while affirming some of the observations made by the Minister, added that nine additional flyovers and extension from Ebute-Metta to Apapa seaport have made the original set date for flag-off unrealistic.
He further informed that the inability of vessels carrying equipment for the ongoing project to berth at the port is almost resolved, adding that the recurring cases of vandalism which posed a threat to the project are also being addressed.
Dignitaries that accompanied the Minister on the assessment tour were: the Chairman, Board of Directors, Nigerian Railway Corporation, (NRC), Malam Ibrahim Al-Hassan Musa, Managing Director, CCECC Nigeria, Jiang Yi Gao, Deputy Project Manager, CCECC, Mr Lee Lijun, among others.
