Wale Jagun
Eleven months after it terminated the contract signed with a consortium of investors to construct the Fourth Mainland Bridge, Lagos State government revealed that a new investor will emerge by June this year.
The state’s Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Adebowale Akinsanya,Wednesday , April 18, 2018, announced the planned commencement date for the bridge in his address at the 2018 Ministerial briefing in Alausa, Ikeja, to mark the third anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in office.
He added that the state government was at the last stage of selection of preferred bidder for the 38 kilometre project.
The Lagos State government terminated a contract with a consortium of investors over delay in commencement about a year ago.
The investors included Visible Asset Limited, Julius Berger Nigeria plc, Hi-tech Construction Limited, J.P. Morgan, Eldorado Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Westminster Dredging and Marine, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), and Access Bank.
Ade Akinsanya, Lagos State commissioner for works and infrastructure, told journalists on Wednesday, that the state government was at the final stage of selecting the new bidder for the multi-billion naira project.
“In the last one year, the state received a series of proposals from prospective partners. As head of the technical committee, we looked at technical proposals submitted by the bidders and after the exercise we ended up short listing three bidders. After that, the finance and technical committee met to check bids submitted. Presently, we are at the last stage, the interview session. By June, we will announce the preferred bidder for the project.’’
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode took the project from the stage of conception when he signed a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with a consortium of investors to fund and construct the bridge at the cost of N844 billion.
The investors were to Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) the infrastructure to the state government after 40 years of recouping their investment. However, one year after the agreement, the government terminated it in May 2017.
The new alignment of the bridge would pass through Lekki, Langbasa and Baiyeiku towns along the shoreline of the Lagos Lagoon estuaries, further running through Igbogbo River Basin and crossing the Lagos Lagoon estuaries to Itamaga Area in Ikorodu.
The alignment would further cross through the Itoikin road and the Ikorodu – Sagamu Road to connect Isawo inward Lagos Ibadan Expressway at Ojodu Berger axis. The four-lane dual carriageway is also designed to have eight interchanges to facilitate effective inter connectivity between different parts of the state.
