The civil society stakeholders under the platform of the Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR) and partners across civil society platforms in Lagos State said they considered it pertinent to call on Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu to undertake appraisals of the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development under Yacoob Ekundayo Alebiosu regarding poor execution of dredging and water transportation projects across Lagos State.
The Centre for Human and Socio-economic Rights (CHSR) has asked the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to probe alleged irregularities in the ongoing dredging and water projects in the state.
The civil society stakeholders under the platform of the Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR) and partners across civil society platforms in Lagos State said they considered it pertinent to call on Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu to undertake appraisals of the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development under Yacoob Ekundayo Alebiosu regarding poor execution of dredging and water transportation projects across Lagos State.
They added that the call had become necessary because the hope of waterways transportation for improved accessibility and movements across the state might not materialise in spite of promises by the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to deliver on his promise.
During a recent press briefing of the group, It was stated that Sanwo-Olu promised to provide water transportation facilities to enhance accessibility to other parts of the state.
However, recent happenings with regards to the implementation of projects raised doubts regarding the commitment of the Lagos State Government to fulfil its promises.
The group continued: “Unfortunately, there were several misrepresentations during the Ministerial Press Briefing by the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development where the scorecard of the ministry was provided in commemoration of the first year’s anniversary of Governor Sanwo-Olu's second term in office.
“It is regrettable that the Commissioner of Waterfront Infrastructure Development Hon. Yacoob Ekundayo Alebiosu did not provide accurate and substantial information on the prevailing situation with regards to ongoing dredging of waterways across the state.
“Without doubt, water transportation infrastructure is a potential catalyst for transforming economic activities across communities and the neighbourhoods in Lagos State.
“Nevertheless, we have reasons to doubt the progress of works on ongoing project contrary to the commissioner’s claim that the Jetty at Amuwo Odofin is currently at 52 percent completion while both the Ijede Shoreline/protection Jetty and Mowo Ojoo Jetty stand at 48 percent Completion. We expect the commissioner to shed more light on the progress of reclamation projects across the state under his watch.
“There are concerns about shoddy works being carried out by the contractors, who from all indications, are either not well-equipped or competent enough to deliver. We are deeply concerned that these projects may end up being abandoned or lead to wastage of public resources unless Governor Sanwo-Olu undertake immediate assessment of the progress of works and ensure proper implementation.
“It would be recalled that a CSO Group, under the aegis of Joint Youth Progressive Alliance (JYPA) had raised concerns regarding the channelisation projects being sloppily implemented. Hence, the renewed call on Governor Sanwo-Olu to investigate and correct prevailing anomalies.
“In the same vein, another CSO Group, Alliance for Accountability, Good Governance and Development (AAGGD) faulted the lackadaisical approach to the implementation of projects for the dredging by companies handling some of the projects for which huge sums of public resources have been released.”