The federal government has attributed the delay in completion of the Lagos-Ibadan railway project, to failure of the contractors to adhere strictly to agreed work plan.
The multi-million dollar rail project is being executed by the Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC).
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, made the disclosure during an inspection tour of the Lagos-Ibadan rail project in Ibadan, Oyo State, Saturday.
Dissatisfied with the slow pace of work on the strategic rail corridor, the minister has the contractors to a meeting on Wednesday in Abuja.
“I have asked CCECC to see us on Wednesday, we will have a meeting and I have to tell them that I am sick and tired of their excuses.
“We have noticed things that will delay movement of goods, they are minor, I believe them but I need them to reiterate that and TEAM has always said that they don’t go by their work plan.
“Ibadan-Kano and other future projects, everybody must go by work plan both in terms of payment, construction, inspection and others so that we keep to the time and the plan of work”, Amaechi said.
Speaking on the disruption occasioned by indiscriminate parking of articulated vehicles along the Apapa axis, Amaechi noted: “We have asked the Permanent Secretary to call the NPA in because the trailer drivers have disrupted the movement of train into the seaport and we have to stop them now. we wither stop them or stop the owner of the terminal”.
This was as he charged the contractors to engage more workforce, in a bid accelerate the pace of work on the project.
He said: “I have noticed that the number of workforce has reduced which is affecting the speed of work. we had agreed that we will commission in April but we cannot.”
Asked to give a definitive date of commissioning, he said: “We are talking to the office of the president, when we talk with him, we will get a date and we will commission.”
Meanwhile, the former Rivers State Governor has assured that the ministry would work with relevant agencies and departments, with a view to mapping out communities that may be affected by the project.
Hear him: “We need to observe the rainy season now so that we know the points that the construction has led to flooding, when we obseve them, the Ministry of Transportation, NRC and the contractors must ensure that the citizens that gave us their lands must enjoy the benefit of that sacrifice they have made.”
He, however, addressed concerns about the Chinese inscriptions on the station’s facilities, assuring that same will be replaced with indigenous languages.
