Govt abandons maintenance works on Lagos road

The maintenance works being carried out on the two-lane highway on Oba Akran Avenue by the Lagos State Ministry of Works have been abandoned.

PUNCH Metro had reported on August 22, that the area had been experiencing heavy traffic as a result of the roadworks which were hampering the free movement of vehicles on the road.

In the report, one of the engineers on ground, Olarenwaju Kazeem, had said that the work would have been completed but for the rains. He had explained that the purpose of the construction was to make the road more durable.

But when our correspondent visited the area again on Monday, there were indications that the maintenance works might have been abandoned.

The interlocking tiles, which were to be laid on the road were seen piled up at some corners of the road, while some of the construction equipment was parked up by the roadside.

Motorists were forced to slow down as a result of the many failed portions of the road, leading to a light traffic snarl.

The gridlock that was observed during the last visit by our correspondent to the area was, however, no longer the case.

A road user, who spoke to PUNCH Metro during the last visit to the area, had lamented that the pace of work on the road was too slow, saying that the work should not have taken more than 48 hours.

Another road user on Monday lamented the shoddy nature of work done so far on the road. She complained that there was no tangible improvement from what it used to be in the past.

The road user, who pleaded anonymity, said, “Look at the poor job that was done. I am sure the contractor might have been given millions of naira to do this job. I cannot see any difference between now and before,” she said.

Efforts to get a reaction from the Lagos State Commissioner for works and infrastructure, Obafemi Hamzat, were unsuccessful as calls made to his phone line was unsuccessful, while a text message sent to him was not replied to as at the time of filing this report.