Umahi: 50-year-old dumpsite delayed Lagos-Calabar highway project for four months

Dave Umahi, minister of works, says a 50-year-old refuse dump with a depth exceeding 10 metres delayed the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway for over four months.

Umahi spoke in Lagos on Monday during an inspection of the highway project.

“We also encountered a refuse dump that had been over 50 years old and had over 10 metres depth and spanned two kilometres,” he said.

“When we encountered it, we had to stop the work for more than four months.”

The minister said the project initially faced some challenges starting from kilometre zero, where the Landmark Beach infrastructure and several other properties were encountered.

He said the ministry decided to alter the highway’s design, moving away from the original coastal alignment so as to preserve the structures.

“We decided as a responsible ministry to vary the design of the project,” Umahi said.

“The implication is that we left the coast and came to a new alignment that was not designed for the project.”

He said contrary to circulating reports, the Landmark Beach on Lagos Island was not demolished, noting that only the shanties surrounding the main structure were removed.

The minister added that the highway’s six lanes were split into three lanes on either side to save the beach infrastructure.

Addressing the financial implication of the challenges encountered, Umahi said that the federal government spent N15 billion to manage the issue.

“I have directed that all the videos and drawings must be exposed because additional works are involved, and I want those documentaries to be intact,” he added.

Dany Abboud, managing director of Hitech Construction Company Ltd., the firm handling the project, explained that the highway was split at kilometre 2.7 to avoid demolishing Landmark Beach and other properties.

Abboud said the eastbound and westbound lanes merged again at kilometre 5.

Abboud also said the company encountered significant waste deposits between kilometres 3 and 9, with the largest dumpsites at kilometres 4 and 9.

“We had to excavate to a very big depth and replace it with sand,” he said.