China Civil Engineering Construction Company, CCECC, the contractor handling the 156 kilometre standard gauge rail line from Lagos to Ibadan has assured communities living along the rail corridor that the company would address all issues they have raised concerning their welfare and primary infrastructure before the final completion and handing over of the project.
The company in a statement signed by its media adviser, Dr. Eshemokha Maho, yesterday in Abuja, and made available to journalists. noted that the clarification became necessary following recent agitation by some communities along the rail corridor over an overhead bridged and a flooded link road.
The statement cited two communities, Laderin and Alagada, who recently went on protests to complain about the state of infrastructure in their areas. While Laderin is asking, CCECC to construct an overhead bridge across the rail line to connect villages in the area to the main road, those in Alagada are pleading with the construction giant to see to the reconstruction of the link road in the community which has been rendered unpassable as a result of flooding. Both communities are in the Ogun axis of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line.
The statement noted that although the construction of an overhead bridge in Laderin was not captured as part of the rail project, CCECC as an ethical company was committed to the development of local communities in all areas of its operations and had long put machineries in place towards addressing the complaint of the community, “we are working based on designs given to us by the contracting authority, as you know we cannot go outside the design, without appropriate approvals, it would be going outside the scope of the project and we could be sanctioned. However we have long taken note of the concern of the community and have taken it into consideration and are working with relevant government officials to ensure that the issue raised by the community are appropriately channelled and addressed.
On the issue of link road which the Lasada community also complained about, the spokesperson noted that CCECC is a company build on integrity.
“Yes it is true that we promised to fix the road, if you go there now work on the road is in progress and it would be delivered soon, I can assure you that the road would be better than it was before. There was no need for any agitation in the first place, because when we promise, we deliver, CCECC is a company that values its reputation and integrity”
He enjoined communities living along the rail corridor to maintain the peace and cooperate with CCECC to ensure that the project is delivered on schedule while the company works towards addressing all their demands.
