The Federal Government has directed the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), Contractors handling the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway project to engage more Nigerians to fast track the construction work on the Lagos-Ibadan Rail line in order to meet the December 2018 deadline for the completion of the Project.
The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi handed down this directive recently during the regular monthly Project Monitoring Steering Committee/inspection tour of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway Standard Gauge Project in Ibadan, Oyo State. “You must employ more hands to fast track construction work and meet the December deadline”, he said.
Amaechi in demonstrating his passion and concern for the involvement of Nigerian Engineers who are to understudy the Chinese in the ongoing Railway Project charged the Project Manager in charge of the CCECC’s Construction Beam Yard at Omi-Adio Ibadan to profile Nigerian Engineers on site but to the Minister’s greatest surprise, the CCECC Project Manager could not name any Nigerian Engineers involve in the ongoing project.
Consequently, Rotimi Amaechi then directed that Six Civil Nigerian Engineers be immediately engaged and deploy to the Beam Yard being critical section of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway project to understudy their Chinese counterparts. Of these Six Engineers, the Minister directed that Engr. M.T. Babakobi, Director, Rail and Transport Services in the Ministry to urgently deploy two Nigerian Civil Engineers from the Ministry, TEAM, Consultant to CCECC, should employ two Nigerian Engineers and CCECC which is the major Contractor to employ another two Nigerian Engineers and deploy them to the Beam Yard at Omio-Adio in Ibadan end of the Project before the next inspection tour.
Similarly, the Minister who was satisfied with the relatively level of progress of work on the Lagos-Ibadan Rail line charged CCECC to purchase more equipment to overcome the gap the inadequate equipment has created and to this end, he is to meet with the Managing Director of CCECC to appraise some of the challenges being encountered in fast tracking construction work on the Lagos-Ibadan Rail line. He noted that he would be interfacing with the CCECC MD to discuss about the company’s work programme and inadequate equipment particularly for the launching of the Beams.
He said “We are impressed about the work they have done from Ibadan to Abeokuta. They have relatively done well. I think by December even if the whole work should be ready, that won’t be the problem, the problem is launching of Beams to cross and laying tracks because you can’t lay tracks unless you cross the bridge, that is why I said they need to get more equipment”
The Minister further reiterated, already many bridges have been constructed but the launching of the Beams has been slowing down the construction work. “I am ready to meet with the CCECC MD next week (this week) in Abuja. The problem is that they are ready to launch the Beams but they don’t have enough equipment but if they get enough equipment, then they can launch more Beams”. Right now, they have just two equipment, one launching from Ibadan and they still have five outstanding bridges and another one launching from Papalanto to Abeokuta and they have about four or five Beams to Lagos and even if they want to launch them together it will take three months and until they launch we can’t cross”, he stated.
