The Federal Government has said that the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report will be ready and made public in the next three months.
The Minister of Work, Sen. David Umahi, disclosed this to members of the public during the stakeholders’ engagement meeting about the project in Lagos, this weekend.
Umahi said the ESIA for the 700km Lagos -Calabar Coastal Road was being prepared, adding that the social aspect of the report was being addressed by the stakeholders’ engagement.
The minister explained that the design of the proposed road was climate-compliant, pointing out that the design of the road infrastructure is based on concrete pavement instead of asphalt.
He said the Federal Ministry of Environment has granted four to five preliminary certifications on the project, adding that the social aspect of it which has to do with compensation, which was being addressed by the stakeholders’ meeting.
Umahi hinted that the Environmental and Social Assessment of the project would allow the federal government to source funds for the construction and completion of the road infrastructure.
“EIA enables us to source funds for the project. No project will be allowed to go on if the environmental and social needs are not taken care of. That’s the essence of the meeting,” he said.
Lending voice to the discussion, the Director in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr. Abass Sulaimon, said the ministry was in full support of the project, disclosing that it has issued interim approval to support the design of the project.
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Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the proposed demolition of several communities in Okun-Ajah community to pave the way for the ongoing Lagos/Calabar Coastal Highway was put to rest following a stakeholders meeting which held today in Lagos.
The Federal Government, through the Minister of Work, David Umahi, directed that the proposed demolition be stopped while asking that the construction around that axis should follow the original gazette instead of the new alignment.
This intervention by the federal government delighted the stakeholders.
Earlier, Dr. Iliasu Gashinbaki the GMD MECA Group in Okun-Ajah, had complained that a submarine cable belonging to MTN that cuts across about 33 countries in Africa, had been tampered with in the course of the highway construction as a result of which some parts of Africa when blank of internet a few months ago.
He called on the federal government to be sensitive and divert the road to its original gazette which will have minimal damage to the MTN facilities and residents of Okun-Ajah.
It could be recalled that the people of Okun-Ajah had promised stiff resistance to any demolition of house in their community.
However, ten people who are affected by demolition of structures on the right of way were compensated.
Speaking earlier, the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Olukorede Kesha, said the aim of the stakeholders meeting was on compensation and resolving environmental issues that affect residents on the right of ways on Lagos Calabar Coastal Highway
The minister, who later hinted the stakeholders that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would be in Lagos on Sunday to officially flag – off Lagos – Calabar Coastal Road project, appealed to the people to support the project, saying it has many social and economic benefits to Nigerians.
He said that road, which will be tolled after completion, guarantees returns on investment, adding that such returns would commence immediately the section one is completed.
“The decision of government has human face. We have concluded the design, awarded section 2, starting from section 2 from Eleko to Lekki Deep Sea to Ogun to Ondo,” he said.
He said that President Tinubu has given direction that section 3 and 4 of the superhighway be started from the end of the project in Calabar and Akwa Ibom, adding that sections 5 and 6 will start from Port Harcourt in Rivers State.
