The Preferred bidder for the construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge may begin work by December, the Special Adviser to the governor on Works and Infrastructure Engr. (Mrs) Aramide Adeyoye has said.
Disclosing this in an exclusive interview with our team, the Special Adviser said the preferred bidder emerged from a 100 percent transparent, keenly contested bidding process, which arose from advertisement of the project in Engineering News, a global journal of engineers, where 52 qualified firms had expressed their interest, out of which the government had shortlisted to 32 firms, from which it then narrowed down to 10, and narrowed further down to three.
She said in the event of a breach, or inability of the preferred bidder to go ahead, the project would switch to the reserved bidder, and in the event that anything also happened, another firm is on the waiting list.
According to her, the government in its determination to achieve the legacy project would be adopting the PPP model, as it does not have the humongous funds to deploy directly to achieving it.
Engr Adeyoye who was among the team of engineers who delivered on the Third Mainland Bridge 32 years ago, said Lagos ought to have had the Fourth Mainland Bridge a long time ago, but had delayed because the government had been unable to get some details in the procurement processes for the project right. She however assured that when completed, the new bridge, which would be wholly funded by the state government would revolutionise the way people travel or commute within the metropolis.
She said: “We knew what we wanted. We wanted to build a ring road around Lagos that will take off from Abraham Adesanya (Lekki) across the Lagoon through Badore and then come out towards Agric/Isawo (Ikorodu) and from there, drop down at Berger.”
She said the Ministry is working with some transaction advisors to ensure that every details that could ensure the smooth takeoff of the project are identified and resolved, adding that the preferred bidder is already working on the cost and is expected to come up with something concrete by November.
Engr Adeyoye who also spoke on the state of other ongoing projects singled out the Mende-Maryland-Ojota Link Bridge, as a product of productive synergy between the coordinating ministries of Works and Infrastructure as well as Transportation, adding that the project, which was another long expected project would relief movement patterns within Ikeja and the environs.
The Special Adviser who noted that there is no pain without gain said a number of road projects are ongoing which when completed would bring much relief to commuters and motorists in the state.
While some of these roads are being contracted out to local engineers and contractors, the government’s team of engineers in the Public Works Corporation are also being deployed to work on several others to bring the desired relief to the citizens.
Among such ongoing works listed by the Special Adviser are the Babajide Sanwo-Olu Road (formerly Dopemu Road), within the Alimosho axis, with the intention to create a bye-pass to link the Airport Road, there is the Oba Sekumade Road, the Baiyeku-Igbogbo Road, Ijede Road, while efforts are on to take on Gberigbe Road all in Ikorodu. We are almost delivering on Mowo Road, in the Badagry axis. We are working in all the five divisions of Ikeja, Baragry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island and Epe simultaneously within the carrying capacity of the state’s budget. “We know we can do more, that is why for some of the very ambitious projects, we are making use of the Public private Partnership (PPP) model,” she added.
Adeyoye said the Ministry has the capacity to handle 200 roads a year, but can only do 20 because of revenue limitations.
“We are determined as a government to do so much, but that is contingent on the amount of revenue at our disposal as a government. We can only assure our people of our desire, our determination and our resolve as a government to do more to bring them the desired relief, but they must do more in enhancing the capacity of the government to earn more. It is only when we earn more that we can do more for the people and bring them the desired comfort and dividends of governance,” she said.