The equipment, including three road
printers and three giant wheel leaders, were unveiled after a public
demonstration to the media and government functionaries to complete the construction
of interlocked road in Joseph Hotounu Street, Lekki.
Others are five driving rollers, 18
hand operating rollers, one excavator, one paver, six tractors, three wheel
loaders, one chip sealer, one milling machine, one hiab, one sweeper machine and
one synchronous chip sealer.
Speaking at the unveiling, the State
Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, said the new equipment were procured in line
with efforts to reposition the Lagos State Public Works Corporation for the
urban regeneration programme aimed at addressing environmental and
infrastructural challenges in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Ikeja G.R.A.
The Governor, who was represented by
Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Rotimi Ogunleye, said
the equipment would be immediately deployed across the State for the urban
renewal initiative, saying that they would go a long way in ensuring the
regeneration of the entire Lagos landscape.
“We are here to commission these
machines, equipment and gadgets and to state that these range of products would
be deployed immediately to the urban regeneration of Victoria Island, Ikoyi and
Ikeja and they are being put in place today to further upgrade the activities
of the Lagos State Public Works Corporation so that from their three centres in
Badagry, Ojodu and Imota, they can take care of the rest of Lagos State.
“We are at this site to see
physically the demonstration of the capability and capacity of the equipment. I
want to state emphatically that this development is a sign of the government’s
commitment to the regeneration and renewal of the entire Lagos State landscape.
“The Public Works Corporation has
three regional centres in Badagry, Ojodu and Imota of which the various
machines would be deployed to the various areas. Essentially, this point is to
regenerate V.I, Ikoyi and Ikeja urban centres and it is an all-inclusive
developmental process,” he said.
Also speaking, Secretary to the
State Government, Mr Tunji Bello said the paving stone machines and road
printers were acquired to basically construct roads that would last longer
considering the state of the Lagos environment being waterlogged.
“We carefully thought about it
before we even embarked on it. It was planned long time ago for the equipment
to be acquired and having been acquired, they will be deployed immediately for
road construction.
“One of the problems we have in
Lagos is road tarring because the water table in Lagos is very high and it does
not allow most of our roads to last and so we needed equipment to make our
roads longer and part of it was to acquire the equipment which have just been
tested.
“So, now we will be using paving
stones mostly and they will last longer particularly in a terrain like Lagos
and that is what we have seen today,” Bello said.
While giving practical demonstration
of the workings of the equipment, Special Adviser to the Governor on Public
Works and Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Public Works Corporation, Engr
Temidayo Erinle said the road printer has the capacity to pave road between six
and eight metres faster and reduce man-hours.
“The road printer can make road
paving of 400 to 600metres square in a one-day working shift of eight hours.
The road printer makes road construction faster, easier and cheaper,” Erinle
said.
While revealing that the State
Government was in the process of further procuring interlocking making
machines, Erinle urged residents to take proper care of the road just unveiled
and desist from indulging in activities that could damage it.
Responding on behalf of the
residents of Joseph Hotounu Street, Lekki, Mrs Ronke Giwa thanked the State
Government for fixing the road from its dilapidated state, saying the
development had removed their decades of sufferings.
“Before the construction of this
road, our cars were getting spoilt; we dread the rains and it had been on for
decades so I like to thank Governor Ambode and the State Government for giving
us this road,” she said.
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