Ambode, Senate committee inspect Apapa failed roads, Ladipo market, others

GOVERNOR Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Development Policy Operation yesterday went on tour of Apapa road network to assess the menace of truck drivers and failed roads in the area.

Coming from Ijora area, inwards Creek road, Apapa Port and Liverpool end of Apapa, the perennial impunity of trailers and trucks loosely packing on both ends on roads and bridges were quite obvious.

Ambode, in his assessment, said that his team saw a semblance of improvement in the area, compared to what was the case three months ago when they last visited, but still far from satisfactory.

It would be recalled that the state government last week issued a 90-day ultimatum to tank farm owners in Apapa to build parking bays for their trucks that have turned roads and bridged to parking lots.

He said that the Federal Government needs to ensure that the contractor (Julius Berger) comes back to site to alleviate the challenges that motorists are facing.

The governor added that his administration would not mind fixing several of the federal roads in the state, but the conditions of reimbursement from the Federal Government must first be met.

He said about N51 billion outstanding is still with the Federal Government, out of which N20 billion is still in contention. “The part that is free from encumbrances is about N30 billion and if the Federal Government gives that to me, I’ll be able to do more roads. The most important part of the federal roads is the Airport road from Oshodi. On our part, we believe that we will do our part. Where the Federal Government do not fix it by early next year, we will go there and fix it.”

Also visited were Kirikiri road, Isolo road, Ladipo auto spare parts market in Mushin and LASTMA yard in Oshodi.

At Ladipo, Ambode expressed concern on the untidy condition of the canal, citing that some of the traders were using it for illegal activities that are endangering health and creating more challenges for the government. The Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Development Policy Operation commended the Lagos State government for judiciously utilising the first two tranches of World Bank Loan, DPO I and DPO II, that was approved for the state in 2010 and 2013.

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, who led other members of the Committee to also inspect some capital projects in the state to which the loan was deployed, expressed satisfaction with the work done so far, urging other states to emulate Lagos.