David Umahi, Minister of Works, has disclosed that 750 houses that are on the path of the Lagos-Calabal Coast Highway have been marked for demolition.
He revealed this during a meeting with stakeholders in Lagos on Thursday.
He said, “If we go by the new alignment, 490 houses would be demolished, also following the gazette alignment, 750 houses would be demolished.
“There is no change of alignment; we are following the gazetted alignment. There would, however, be realignment at Okun Ajah area of the state by 25 kilometres to avoid damaging submarine cables.”
However, landlords of affected property were displeased with the government compensation, claiming it did not match their investment.
Umahi further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had been invited to flag off the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
According to the minister, the coastal highway would boost tourism.
“The new corridor is going to have befitting tourism centres and the land is going to be made available by the relevant department of government, and Nigerians would be opportune to leverage that.
“When external funding from outside comes, it is going to reduce our inflation and strengthen the naira. So, the partnership of Federal Government is 30 per cent commitment, and we have not exceeded that in terms of the local funding commitment of the Federal Government,” he explained.
The minister noted that the new coastal corridor was not going to be for the benefit of Lagos alone.
He added, “This is not just going to be in Lagos alone, but all through the 700 kilometres of the coastal highway. We tend to link this road from Sokoto to Badagry, and another spur that is going to link a road that runs from Enugu, Abakaliki, and Ogoja, down to Cameroon, and that is called the trans-Africa trade route. The Badagry route is also an African trade route linking us to other West African Countries.”
10 property owners were compensated during a question and answer session with the minister.
