Lagos State to demolish 318 houses for 4th Mainland Bridge

By The Citizen

The Lagos State government is to demolish 318 buildings to pave way for the construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge.

The state government yesterday made this disclosure at a joint press briefing on the 2014 budget analysis by the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Ben Akabueze and his counterpart from the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, held at the Bagualda Kaltho Press centre, Alausa, Ikeja.

On reasons why works on the Fourth Mainland Bridge would not commence immediately, Hamzat said it is difficult for the state government to embark on the previous alignment for the construction of the bridge because of its huge requirements and expenses.

His words: 'And to construct a kilometer of that bridge is about N40 billion. So the issue is that we also need to factor the cost of demolishing the 318 buildings into the project. And a lot of these buildings are beautiful houses.'

He lamented that a larger percent of these buildings don't have genuine building permit. Hamzat added: 'We need to remember that when motorists make use of the bridge, they will need an exit route.

And this route will require motorists to drive through a road that will afford them to link Ijede in Ikorodu and later link Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. And this road is about 22 kilometres.'

The commissioner noted that the bridge isn't just any mere bridge that can be constructed in haste rather that it required specific planning before it can be embarked upon.