May 16, 2018

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Wednesday unveiled 45 new road construction equipment as the urban regeneration of Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Ikeja G.R.A got underway.

He also commissioned a newly interlocked road in Lekki area of the state.

Ambode said the equipment were procured in line with efforts to reposition the Lagos State Public Works Corporation for the urban regeneration programme aimed at addressing environmental and infrastructural challenges in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Ikeja G.R.A.

The governor, represented by Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Rotimi Ogunleye, said the equipment would be immediately deployed across the state for the urban renewal initiative.

He said that the equipment would go a long way in ensuring the regeneration of the entire Lagos landscape.

According to him, the Public Works Corporation has three regional centres in Badagry, Ojodu and Imota, and various machines will be deployed to the various areas.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the equipment include three road printers and three giant wheel leaders, five driving rollers and 18 hand operating rollers.

Others include one excavator, one paver, six tractors, three wheel loaders, one chip sealer, one milling machine, one hiab, one sweeper machine and one synchronous chip sealer.

The Secretary to the State Government, Mr Tunji Bello, also said at the event that the paving stone machines and road printers were acquired to basically construct roads that would last longer, considering the state of the Lagos environment being waterlogged.

“We carefully thought about it before we even embarked on it. It was planned long time ago for the equipment to be acquired, and having been acquired, they will be deployed immediately for road construction.

“One of the problems we have in Lagos is road tarring because the water table in Lagos is very high and it does not allow most of our roads to last. So, we needed equipment to make our roads longer, and part of it was to acquire the equipment which have just been tested.

“Now, we will be using paving stones mostly and they will last longer, particularly in a terrain like Lagos, and that is what we have seen today,” Bello said.

While giving practical demonstration of the workings of the equipment, Special Adviser to the governor on Public Works and Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Public Works Corporation, Mr Temidayo Erinle, said the road printer had the capacity to pave roads between six and eight metres faster and reduce man-hours.

While revealing that the state government was in the process of further procuring interlocking making machines, Erinle urged residents to take proper care of the road just unveiled and desist from indulging in activities that could damage it.

Responding on behalf of the residents of Joseph Hotounu Street, Lekki, Mrs Ronke Giwa thanked the state government for fixing the road from its dilapidated state and bringing relief to the users.