Lagos-Badagry Expressway: 2014 infrastructure budget raises hope on completion

For motorists and residents along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, the generous allocation of 20 percent of the Lagos State’s 2014 budget to works and infrastructure raises their hope that the stress and anguish that are their daily bread on that road may see some respite in no distant future.

The expansion of the expressway from its current four to 10 lanes with a light rail in-between has been tipped as a rare opportunity to open the state to economic opportunities within West African states.

Olufemi Hamzat, commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Lagos State, has, meanwhile, assured that despite the seeming slow progress of the reconstruction work which started in 2009, the present administration was optimistic of delivering the project before 2015.

Hamzat, who was responding to exclusive questions raised by BusinessDay on the state’s 2014 budget signed recently by Babatunde Fashola, the state governor, disclosed that as with the previous years, the state government has continued to give the road priority attention.

“However, it should be noted that this is a project with two major aspects involving the integration of road and rail. We are irrevocably committed to delivering this road before the end of our tenure,” he said.

On the over 20 percent of the 2014 budget allocated to his ministry, the commissioner noted that 2014 was a winding down year, hence efforts would be geared towards completing the 300 projects currently embarked upon by the state.

“It is the avowed commitment of this administration to ensure that no projects are abandoned under its watch. In the instance of contractor’s failure, we have not hesitated to terminate such and re-award,” he said.

The state also pledged to leverage on its Strategic Inner Roads Development Programme to link communities and redevelop more roads across the state with a minimum lifespan of 15 years, promising not relent on its effort to attend to the inner-city roads which number over 1,000.

“We have had to prioritise, as we consider the traffic-bearing capacity, the connectivity and also the ability to properly discharge and drain the road. Aside from the upgrade and reconstruction, there is massive rehabilitation and maintenance works by the Public Works Corporation going on all around Lagos. Last year alone, over 1,000 roads were maintained,” the commissioner said.

By: ODINAKA MBONU