By OLASUNKANMI AKONI

IKEJA—Lagos State Government, yesterday, expressed satisfaction over the level of work on the 10-lane Lagos- Badagry Expressway project, even as it said that contractors had embraced off-site construction strategy because of the prevailing traffic and weather challenges in the state.

Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, at a briefing, assured that Governor Babatunde Fashola’s administration would  bequeath to residents a first-class transnational highway by 2015.

He said: “It has become necessary to reiterate the plan of the administration in the face of various commentaries on the pace of work by contractors; which for many people, will negatively impact on the delivery of the projects.

“While we are elated that people are monitoring and concerned about the project, it is necessary for us to assure them of the fact that the project is alive and well. It is actually going on according to plan.”

Hamzat said, to ensure that the state government realised the project for public use, it subdivided the work into phases, aimed at ensuring that each chunk was undertaken in a manageable manner.

The phases are;· Lot 1 (Eastern section) Babs Animasahun Road to Mile2 (Mazamaza) – 5.625km.· Lot2 (central section) Mile2 (Mazamaza) to Agbara- 24.5km. This has also been subdivided further to have from Mazamaza to Agboju, is segment1 of Lot2A while from Agboju to Trade Fair is segment II and Trade Fair to Okokomaiko is segment III. Lot 3. (Western Section) Agbara to Badagry–28.3km. He clarified that, what had earlier been announced were the Lot1 and Lot 2A of the project.

Present level of work
Hamzat continued: “As of today the state’s contractor is engaged in the preliminary works which includes working on the outfalls to ensure that FESTAC Town is not adversely affected. This requires careful handling. The Office of Drainage Services in the State Ministry of the Environment is working with the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) on this process.

“The project is challenged to the extent that the right hand side has a terrain that is seriously swampy. It has at some points 2-3 metres depth of water. Given the rains, it is difficult to access for both equipment and the workforce.”