The Centre for Human and Socio-economic Rights (CHSR) on Thursday called on Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to monitor ongoing dredging projects in the state.
The President of the CHSR, Mr Alex Omotehinse, who made the call at a news conference in Lagos, urged Sanwo-Olu to take a cue from former governmrnt Babatunde Fashola who was always visiting project sites unannounced .
Omotehinse said that there were concerns that some of the ongoing dredging projects had achieved very little or no progress in spite of payments received for contracts awarded.
According to him, some contractors handling ongoing dredging projects lack the requisite expertise and equipment to deliver .
“We call on Sanwo-Olu to investigate the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure in order to allay public concerns and suspicion regarding arbitrary award of dredging contracts and ensure remedy to the poor implementation ongoing work.
“We call on Sanwo-Olu to ensure thorough diligence in the selection of contractors.
“We call for the immediate intervention of Sanwo-Olu towards ensuring that resources are no longer diverted.
“The governor should also ensure that only contractors with requisite competence as well as required expertise and equipment are awarded the dredging of waterways to facilitate rapid transformation of water infrastructure in Lagos State,” Omotehinse said.
The rights activist urged Sanwo-Olu to remain focused in fulfilling his promises to Lagos residents, regarding waterways transportation to facilitate socio-economic development across the state.
According to him, civil society stakeholders under the platform of CHSR and partners consider it pertinent to call on the governor to scrutinise contracts awarded by the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development under the commissioner, Mr Yacoob Alebiosu.
Omotehinse said that Alebiosu did not provide accurate and substantial information on the prevailing situation with regards to ongoing dredging of waterways across the state.
According to him, water transportation infrastructure is a potential catalyst for transforming economic activities across communities and the neighbourhoods in Lagos State.
“We have reasons to doubt the progress of work on ongoing projects 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 stands at 48 percent completion.
“We expect the commissioner to shed more light on the progress of reclamation projects across the state under his watch.
“We are deeply concerned that these projects may end up being abandoned or lead to wastage of public resources unless Sanwo-Olu undertake immediate assessment of the progress of works and ensure proper implementation,” he added.
Omotehinse said that there were also concerns by stakeholders, including boat operators, that the equipment deployed for dredging do not have the capacity to deliver on the specified job as expected. (NAN)
