FG dissatisfied with CCECC standard gauge rail execution

THE Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has expressed utter dissatisfaction with the ongoing works being carried out by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) on the Lagos axis of the $1.5bn standard gauge rail project, accusing the contractor of refusing to mobilise to the site.

According to the Honourable Minister of Transportation while speaking on Tuesday during a routine inspection of the standard gauge rail project at Ologun-Eru area of Oyo State, “If I say I am impressed with the CCECC on the Lagos axis of this project, then I am lying. We are just not there in the Lagos area at all.

“We have resolved all the crisis in Lagos, and I must commend the Lagos Water people for resolving the water pipelines issue which constituted a major hindrance to the project.

“After the resolution of this issues, the CCECC have refused to mobilise to the site in Lagos.”

On excuses given by the CCECC for the delays, Amaechi stated that “the CCECC gave reasons for the slow pace of work at the Lagos end. They claimed that the executions given to some of the sub-contractors were not met like for instance, the person relocating the water pipes was expected to finish that by November 2nd; but now the person is asking for additional two months to complete that.

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“The excuse given by the sub-contractor is that there are other issues that have to be solved before the water pipes can be relocated. For me, this excuses, although tenable, are not excusable. There is a need for them to speed up because the speed between part of Ogun to Ibadan is encouraging, but the speed from Apapa to Ebute-Metta and to some other parts of Lagos is discouraging.

“The solution for the water pipelines have been found, but relocation is what is delaying us now.”

On the December deadline given to the contractor, the Honourable Minister of Transportation explained that the project was originally designed for execution in three years, but is been forced into a year project.

“Don’t forget this is a three years project that we are trying to complete within a year. As I speak, there are only three bridges remaining to be completed between Abeokuta and Ibadan. Between Ogun and Lagos, there are just a few bridges remaining to be completed. We will keep piling pressure on them to make sure the project is completed quickly,” Rotimi Amaechi added.