By Yinka Aderibigbe
Assurances came from the Lagos State government on Wednesday that everyone who will be affected by the proposed construction of the 4th Mainland Bridge will be duly compensated in compliance with international best practice.
The government said residents should not entertain any fear that they would not be compensated when their properties were demolished to pave way for the bridge.
The government gave the assurance at the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) Panel Review Meeting on the proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge project in Lagos and Ogun states by the Lagos State Government Ministry of Works and Infrastructure held in Lagos. Also at the meeting are officials of the Federal Ministry of the Environment.
Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Mrs. Aramide Adeyoye said the payment of adequate compensation proposed by the Lagos State government is in line with global best practice.
Adeyoye was represented by the Project Director, Engineer Tokunbo Ajanaku.
She said the panel for the ESIA report on the Lagos Fourth Mainland Bridge project was the final review before the project is approved at ESIA level.
The special adviser added that the meeting with the stakeholders was very fruitful, saying that it was a meeting of co-owners and as such “you will see that the quality of the input from everybody has been topical of the owner for the project.
“This project passes through Lagos and Ogun states so it is a Lagos State initiative for Lagos State and Ogun State driven by his Excellency Mr. Babajide Olushola Sanwo-Olu for a harmonious and integrated approach of all the corridors within Lagos and those within Ogun State, to settlement and that is what we will do and each party will be properly compensated where necessary resettlement for the approaches is going to be holistic. I think the issue of compensation is not an issue as it is a composite plan to make everybody happy,” he said.
Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdulahi, who was represented by Engineer Celestine Gomwalk noted that the meeting is important to enable all stakeholders especially the two government s iron out the negative impact such a huge and monumental project would have for their people.
He said: “Despite the laudable benefits associated with the proposed project and considering the bio-physical and socio-economic nature of the proposed Corridor; the project is envisaged to have significant negative social, economic, health and environmental consequences, including resettlement issues for numerous individuals and families who are identified as Project Affected Persons (PAPs).
“It is the responsibility of the federal government in collaboration in this case, with other tiers of government and relevant regulatory authorities, to ensure that these negative impacts are adequately identified and effectively mitigated while the attendant positive impacts are realised for project and environmental sustainability.”
According to the minister, the primary objective of EIA was to ensure adequate protection of the bio-physical and socio-economic environment as well as project sustainability.
He appealed to all stakeholders present to constructively participate in this review meeting and provide meaningful contributions that would enrich the draft ESIA report to an internationally acceptable standard.
“As policymakers, we must ensure adequate provision of an enabling environment for investment in critical infrastructure such as this project for Nigeria to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Nigeria’s commitment to Net Zero by 2060,’’ he said.
Earlier, the panel chairman of the fourth mainland bridge project Prof. Oladapo Afolabi explained that, “The technical people have made their presentation, those areas that have potential impact have been identified and the stakeholders have also raised their concerns. What we do basically in EIA is to determine where the project should go after we have identified all the negative impacts and balance them with positive impact.
“If the positive impact outweigh significantly the negative impact then we say, project can go on and then we create an environmental management plan, that is, plans that will ensure that the negative impact would be totally erased or reduced to the barest minimum. With what we have seen today, we do not have any significant issues that can speak against the commencement of the project.”