Work on the $2.5bn Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge line is being held up by huge compensation demands and lack of cooperation from some organisations which have facilities on the right of way of the project.
The project has progressed significantly from Iju, on the Lagos outskirts up to Ibadan where tracks have been laid up to kilometre 152 as at last Thursday with only four kilometers left to be completed the track laying.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has said that the double track laying would be completed by July. When completed, operations would commence from Iju to Ibadan pending the completion of other ancillary works including completion of station and level crossings. While work on the Ogun and Oyo corridors have progressed, the Lagos corridor has barely taken off following a long list of encumbrances.
A standing committee was constituted by the former Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to facilitate the resolution of all obstacles mitigating against the early completion of the project especially on the Lagos corridor. The encumbrances include gas and water pipelines, Tejuosho Market and Kula Mall both at Yaba and Lagos State Electricity Board Generator under Oshodi Bridge. It was learnt that the state government has agreed to remove the generator at Oshodi standing on the right of way. A source privy to the project said the government is presently worried about persistent demands for compensation which are not realistic.
It was learnt that at Tejuosho Market, the claimants at some points said the compensation presented to them was not “sufficient”, saying some of their facilities were buried underground. Also, there is the issue of an oil pipelines belonging Forte Oil and OVH Energy that is yet to be fully resolved. It was learnt that Forte Oil has been paid some compensation and given up till end of May 2019 to relocate but “they are requesting for an extension till November 2019”.
Regarding the Flour Mills to the port, it was learnt that compensation has been paid to the company but the organization reportedly complained that the estate valuers did not consider their 70MW power plant. An NRC official who spoke with our correspondent said, “The Federal Government has since the beginning of the project paid heavy compensation running into billions of naira for right of way, for property demolition and so on.
“However, demands for compensation just keep coming in. As I am talking to you, we are still going to pay more money and yet there are some demands that are still coming”, he said. When asked about how much has been paid as compensation so far, the Managing Director of NRC, Engr. Fidet Okhiria, said he did not have a record of what has been paid. However, he said the team, in collaboration with the contractor, has made progress in resolving all the obstacles on the Lagos corridor.
Okhiria also confirmed that some people were making more demands for compensation after they had already been paid. “We pay people their normal due but human beings will also try to get what is outside their rightful compensation. What we have paid is enormous, I don’t have it in mind,” he said.
Source: Dailytrust
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