The Lagos State Government has urged residents to support the dualisation of the Mushin-NNPC- Apapa-Oshodi Expressway project.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Engr. Oluwole Sotire made the call recently during a stakeholders’ meeting with residents along the Right of Way (RoW) of the road project.
According to him, the meeting, which centered around the modalities for the smooth execution of the project, especially the establishment of the RoW, was aimed at achieving mutual understanding and getting the buy-in of the people for the successful execution of the Federal Government assisted project in the axis.
Sotire urged stakeholders whose properties fall within the RoW of the project not to dwell on the initial discomfort but consider the bigger picture of the enhanced value of their properties, good aesthetics, better connectivity and environmental sustainability.
He said that the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, which is sponsoring the project, had been advised to carry along all affected entities, including institutional buildings encroaching on the RoW, assuring that stakeholders’ concerns were being looked into.
His words: “For example, having noticed that institutional buildings such as schools are also affected, we purposely fixed this stakeholders engagement, usually preceding the removal of encumbrances, to the holiday period when fears of exposing the school and students to dangers from the removal of school fences would not be present”.
The project contractor, Stragic Construction Limited, represented by Engr. Folounsho Ogundele promised to immediately reconstruct the fence of any affected institutional building and called for the needed cooperation to bring the project to fruition.
Stakeholders at the meeting include owners of affected residential buildings in the area and representatives of Lagos State Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) such as Ministries of Education and Health as well as the Lagos State Lands Bureau and Office of Infrastructure.
