39 firms bid for Fourth Mainland Bridge project

• Lagos records 959 emergencies in 11 months
•Restates commitment to safe blood for transfusion
•Govt, stakeholders to invest N41b in agric

Thirty-nine construction companies have expressed interest in the construction of the proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge in Lagos, which the state government had advertised some weeks ago.

It opened the bid to unveil the companies that expressed their interest for the project yesterday.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Aramide Adeyoye, said the opening of the bid was the first of the six stages before a winner would be selected to construct the bridge, describing the process as very transparent.

She said since the government did not have the fund for the project, it had to place it under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

Adeyoye said the next step, which is the evaluation stage, would begin today, adding that that the companies that qualified for the next stage would be contacted.

However, the Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, has revealed that between January 1 and November 30, 2019, the state recorded 959 emergency incidents, with 515 occurring between January and June, while 444 were recorded between July and November.

Speaking yesterday at the 2019 stakeholders’ meeting on collapsed buildings, road accidents and flooding themed ‘Synergising in the Management of Emergencies and Disasters’, Oke-Osanyintolu said of the 959 incidents, road accidents were 315 with the highest recorded in May and June (50 each), while the lowest (six) was in July.

“In summary, Ikorodu recorded the highest incidents (64), followed by Ikeja (62) and Ibeju-Lekki (60), while Ikosi-Ejirin, Imota and Mosan-Okunola recorded the lowest with one incident each,” he said.

The DG noted that the agency performed credibly due to the support of active stakeholders.

He argued that the meeting couldn’t have come at a better time than now “when we are working to improve our synergies in the areas of operational activities, collaboration, information sharing and strategic planning towards effective and efficient emergency/disaster management in the state.”

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has restated the state’s commitment to the provision of clean and safe blood for transfusion in all health facilities, as a measure against haemorrhage, which is the leading cause of maternal and child mortality.

Abayomi, who stated this yesterday at the 2019 Annual Stakeholders’ Summit of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service (LSBTS), noted that the resolve of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration to ensure access to screened, certified, clean and quality blood for citizens, especially pregnant women whenever it is required, is unshaken.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Strategy for Reducing Maternal Mortality: Increasing the Blood Supply, the Commissioner declared that preventable deaths in women and children resulting from normal procreation caused by haemorrhage were unacceptable.

“In a place like Lagos where we have two teaching hospitals, 27 general hospitals and over 300 primary healthcare centres, we should not accept these preventable deaths. Lagos shouldn’t be a place where we should be talking about maternal and child mortality rates and this is why we have declared zero tolerance for preventable deaths in mothers and babies,” he said.

In another vein, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Gbolahan Lawal, has revealed that about N41 billion will be invested in the agriculture sector by the state government, donor agencies, development partners and the organised private sector in the next five years.

Speaking at a roundtable on the implementation of five-year agricultural roadmap themed ‘A Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Strategy with Citizens at Core’ yesterday, Lawal disclosed that the investment was projected for Fisheries Value Chain, Poultry Value Chain, Piggery Value Chain, Coconut Value Chain and Rice Value Chain.

Highlighting the importance of investment in the agriculture sector, he stated that China was able to take 440 million people out of poverty through agriculture.

So, he was optimistic that Lagos could conveniently create thousands of jobs yearly through the sector.

In her address, Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture, Ruth Olusanya, added, “We are thriving for the emergence of a symbiotic relationship where the private sector will be the main driver and stimulant of agricultural development and the government as a catalyst and an enabler of smart agriculture that will not only ensure job creation, increase farm income and food security, but will also preserve our environment and future.”