Lagos cancels Fourth Mainland Bridge contract, shops for new investors

The Lagos state government on Monday said that it was shopping for new investors to take over the 4th Mainland Bridge project after the old contractors were unable to deliver what was expected of them.

Adebowale Akinsanya, Lagos commissioner for waterfront developemnt, said this at the 2017 ministerial press briefing of the ministry in Alausa to commemorate governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s second year in office.

He explained that investors from various countries which include South Korea, Europe and America had indicated interest in the project.

“The pace the old contractors were moving is not what we are looking for,” he said.

“Right now we are looking at many investors and the interests are high, I would rather wait till everything is finalised before giving the detailed information.

“Investors from all over the world are indicating interest, from China, South Korea, Europe and America.

“What we are doing now is vetting through the process to make sure that we do not waste more time, very soon you will see work begin on the bridge.”

On the closed Fadeyi pedestrian bridge, he said that the state was also working on replacing the foot bridge which was repaired recently.

The commissioner explained that an articulated vehicle damaged a portion of the bridge and thus threatened its stability and safety.

He said the state government was partnering with the federal ministry of power, works and housing to actualise the Lagos airport road project.

“On Murtala Mohammed Airport road, we did not get approval from the Federal Government but we are still working with them, we are getting things ready for the approval,” he said.

“Whenever the approval comes in, the next day we will begin work on the site.

“We are collaborating with the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to speed up the process, it is the interest of Lagosians and Nigerians as a unit to adress the problem of that road, that is the first contact with Lagos and the road is not in a good condition.”

On open manholes across the state, he said that the state was working on applying inner locks to the covers so that they cannot be removed by vandals.

“This is a new system to lock the manholes from inside to prevent theft and it is something ongoing,” he said.

He said that an earlier project by the state government to replace steel manhole covers with fibres that cannot be stolen by vandals was still ongoing as according to him, it was not possible to replace all of the covers at once.