CHSR Calls On Gov Sanwo-Olu To Review Dredging And Water Transportation Projects Over Poor Contract Execution 

P.M.EXPRESS reports as was contained in a statement made by the group during their press conference in Lagos State

The President of the group, Comrade Alex Omotehinse, stated that the call has become necessary because the hope of waterways transportation for improved accessibility and movements across the state may not materialise despite the promises by the administration to deliver on his promise during the electioneering campaign of Mr. Governor’s second term in office.

He noted that the promise may be a millage regarding the commitment by the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development with misrepresentations on the scorecard of the ministry as was provided in commemoration of the first year’s anniversary of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.

Comrade Omotehinse stated that the Commissioner, Hon. Alebiosu, did not provide accurate and substantial information on the prevailing situation with regards to ongoing dredging of waterways across the state.

“Without doubt, water transportation infrastructure is a potential catalyst for transforming economic activities across communities and the neighbourhoods in Lagos State. Nevertheless, we have reasons to doubt the progress of works on ongoing projects contrary to the commissioner’s claim that the Jetty at Amuwo Odofin is currently at 52 percent completion while both the Ijede Shoreline/protection Jetty and Mowo Ojoo Jetty stand at 48 percent completion.”

“We expect the commissioner to shed more light on the progress of reclamation projects across the state under his watch.There are concerns about shoddy works being carried out by the contractors, who from all indications, are either not well-equipped or competent enough to deliver and these projects may end up being abandoned or lead to wastage of public resources.”

He stated that a CSO Group, Joint Youth Progressive Alliance (JYPA), had raised concerns regarding the channelisation projects being sloppily implemented and  another CSO, Alliance for Accountability, Good Governance and Development (AAGGD), faulted the lackadaisical approach to the implementation of projects for the dredging by companies handling some of the projects for which huge sums of public resources have been released including the channelisation at Mende in the Maryland axis of Lagos metropolis.

“There are concerns by stakeholders including boat operators to the effect that the equipment deployed for dredging are low-graded and unfit to deliver on the specified job as expected.  Therefore, there is the need for Governor Sanwo-Olu to allay the fears of the public by conducting assessment of the state of projects awarded by Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development without further delay.”

“We are aware that residents in other areas to be linked with water transportation are worried about the neglect despite the promises made by Governor Sanwo-Olu to ease their movements and to facilitate socio-economic activities by prioritizing water transportation.”

“Some of the concerned residents are also alleging that the dredging waterways was not prioritised where they are mostly needed. Residents are displeased with the dredging of the waterways in critical areas, where the project would offer huge relief to teeming population, which has been neglected.”

“Some stakeholders are alleging diversion of funds released for dredging projects across the waterways in Lagos State through questionable appropriation by the Lagos State House of Assembly (LSHA).

There are also concern that some of the ongoing dredging projects were awarded to proxies of leading members in the administration of Governor Sanwo-Olu, who have achieved very little or no progress in spite of payments received for the contracts awarded.

“More disturbing however, is that some contractors handling ongoing dredging projects are said to lack the requisite expertise and without equipment to deliver quality jobs.”

Our Demands:

– We call on Governor Sanwo-Olu to investigate the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure to allay public concerns and suspicions regarding arbitrary awards of dredging contract and ensure remedy to the poor implementation ongoing works.

– We call on Governor Sanwo-Olu to ensure thorough diligence in the selection of contractors.

– We call for the immediate intervention of Governor Sanwo-Olu towards ensuring that resources are no longer diverted, but to also ensure that only contractors with requisite competence as well as required expertise and equipment are awarded the dredging of waterways to facilitate rapid transformation of water infrastructure in Lagos State.

– We call on Governor Sanwo-Olu to remain focused in fulfilling his promises to Lagosians regarding waterways transportation to facilitate socio-economic development across the state.