The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has defended the ₦1.06tn contract sum for Section One of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that the undertaking is competitively priced when its engineering specs, terrain and supporting infrastructure are taken under consideration.
Umahi made the clarification throughout an interview with ARISE News anchor on Friday the place he argued that critics had misrepresented the undertaking’s price by dividing the overall contract sum by the size of the street with out contemplating its a number of carriageways and different infrastructure.
“Section One of the coastal highway covers 47.47 kilometres, stretching from Victoria Island to Eleko Village in Lagos State,” he mentioned
According to the minister, the associated fee interprets to roughly ₦7.3bn to ₦7.5bn per kilometre when adjusted to the equal of a regular two-lane carriageway.
“I deserve kudos for the cost of the coastal highway,” Umahi mentioned as he in contrast the undertaking with different main street developments
“You have to compare apple to apple,” Umahi mentioned, arguing that significant comparisons between street initiatives should account for street width, pavement specs, bridges, drainage methods and terrain.
He defined that the freeway was being constructed with strengthened concrete pavement and would function solar-powered streetlights, underground drainage, two-metre walkways, crash obstacles and a hall reserved for a railway line.
The minister additionally highlighted the in depth floor preparation required alongside the Lagos part, saying about 30 kilometres of the route concerned eradicating unsuitable soil to a mean depth of 10 metres earlier than refilling the world.
He added that the street degree needed to be raised by a mean of 5 metres, additional rising the engineering calls for of the undertaking.
Umahi additionally cited rising development materials prices, notably concrete, as one other issue affecting the economics of the undertaking.
“When we started, concrete was ₦350,000 per cubic metre. Today, it is ₦460,000 per cubic metre. The contract price has not changed,” he mentioned.
According to him, the rise within the worth of concrete had not resulted in a corresponding adjustment to the contract sum.
Umahi in contrast the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway with the Bodo-Bonny Road in Rivers State, sections of the East-West Road and different coastal street initiatives in West Africa.
He maintained that the undertaking was competitively priced when assessed towards roads with comparable engineering necessities.
The minister additionally cited the involvement of Deutsche Bank, which led the financing for Section One, as proof that the undertaking’s pricing had undergone scrutiny.
According to Umahi, the financial institution thought-about the undertaking underpriced, whereas subscriptions to the financing exceeded the quantity being sought by $100m.
However, the minister didn’t counsel that the financing evaluation alone settled the broader debate over the undertaking’s price.
Umahi cautioned towards utilizing the price of the primary part to estimate the price of the complete 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
He defined that soil circumstances, bridges and different engineering necessities differed alongside the route, that means that development prices would range from one part to a different.
“There are no two sections that are the same,” he mentioned.
The minister’s defence got here amid sustained public scrutiny of the coastal freeway’s contract sum, with critics questioning the dimensions of expenditure and the federal government’s justification for the undertaking.
Umahi, nonetheless, insisted that assessments primarily based solely on the contract worth and street size did not seize the undertaking’s engineering complexity.
He maintained that the freeway represented worth for cash, arguing {that a} honest evaluation should contemplate the development specs, supporting infrastructure and difficult terrain concerned in delivering the undertaking.
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