Additional works may delay Lagos-Ibadan rail project till 2021 ― Amaechi

The Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi on Friday summoned the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Group Chairman, Zhao Dianlong and CCECC Nigeria Managing Director, Jiang Yi Gao who joined him in his routine ministerial inspection of the Lagos-Ibadan rail project.

This is even as the Minister explained that additional works may delay the final completion date of the project until 2021.

Speaking after holding crunch talks with the CCECC Chairman and MD, the Minister explained that many of the equipment that was on sight at the inception of the project are no longer there.

According to the Honourable Minister of Transportation, “There is remarkable progress compared to what we saw on Monday. I asked some journalists that I would not have complained on Monday if I had seen these numbers of workers that are on sight today. Going from here to the seaport, we all can see remarkable improvement, meaning something was wrong before their Chairman came today. Not much is happening at the seaport, and they have promised me that they will intensify effort at the port.”

When asked how sacrosanct is April 2020 completion deadline, Amaechi stated that “Somebody advised me not to talk about the completion date anymore and just continue working. I won’t tell you my conversation with the CCECC Chairman, but let’s wait till February 20th when we will be coming back to inspect.

“But if you look at the work going on, you will agree with me that if they maintain the manner of work we saw today, I think we should be able to commence activities on the track very soon. As far as I am concerned, mentally, I am almost.out of Lagos and want to focus on Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan to Ilorin.

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“What we are saying is adequate manpower and equipment will deliver on time. Those equipment we saw on sight at the inception of this project are no longer there. Equipment and manpower ought to be commensurate with the volume of work on ground.

“The problem with contractors is that they always want to maximise profit. Everything for the speedy completion of this project is already inbuilt in the contract sum. But contractors don’t want to spend more money, believing that the equipment that they have is enough to complete the work even if it takes a longer time to complete. Buying more equipment will cost more money, but all of that is provided for in the contract.”

On the actual time for completion of the project given the issues on ground, Amaechi explained that the contractor is saying additional works on the Lagos-Ibadan rail will cost about six months more to complete.

“The original completion date of this project would have been May of this year, but the argument the contractor is given now is that there are additional works, which is added to the original completion date, will drag the project to next year (2021).

“If they complete the tracks in May, what about the additional works on the tracks, what about the overpasses, underpasses, flyovers etc. These things have affected the time of completion,” the Honourable Minister stated.

Also speaking to newsmen after the meeting with the CCECC, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Engr. Fidet Okhiria stated that the underpasses and overpasses were not part of the initial contract agreement, but were brought into the contract when the government said best practices must be followed.

“The underpasses and overpasses were not part of the initial agreement. Those places where we have underpasses and overpasses were initially supposed to be direct physical level crossing. It was when the Minister came that he mandated the contractor to construct overpasses and underpasses anywhere there is rail crossing. This is a Federal Government policy that anywhere we have rail crossing, it is either an overpass or underpass that should be constructed. We will be having about nine flyovers within Lagos.

“So these are the additional works that may delay the final completion of the project,” the NRC MD added.