The Federal Government, on Thursday, confirmed that it would pay compensation to all property owners along the path the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway would be passing through across nine states.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, who said President Bola Tinubu had approved the payment of compensation to all affected property owners, also listed the necessary requirements and conditions affected residents must meet to qualify for the compensation.
While clarifying that the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal Highway would tentatively gulp N15.36tn or N4.39bn per kilometre, the minister said the government had extended the eviction notice for property owners affected in the multi-trillion naira project.
He also said the legacy project would be delivered in eight years.
The 700km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project is designed to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through the coastal states of Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Edo Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom, before culminating in Cross River.
Umahi, while speaking at a stakeholders meeting with affected residents in Lagos, said that the works ministry would only provide compensation to deserving individuals based on approved documents.
He said an environmental impact assessment valuation had been concluded on the affected buildings, noting that owners of shanties and illegal buildings would not be paid.
He said, “The Federal Ministry of Works will pay compensation and the President has directed me to pay compensation but we are not going to pay anything to those living in the shanties.
“When you put up a building on a land that is not your own then you are not entitled for compensation. If your property is not approved, you are not entitled for compensation, but the President is a man of good heart and so I think we would still pay compensation to some persons because of the hardship in the country.
“But I repeat, shanties or unapproved buildings won’t be paid but we would try to save solid properties as much as possible.”
He also noted that the President directed the implementation of a compensation plan in response to the prevailing hardship in the country.
“The number of houses is still unknown but the environmental and social impact assessment officer has concluded his report and has captured all the properties involved. I am going to be looking at it but I am going to remove all the shanties and illegal buildings.
“At the end of this meeting, I know very well that my director and I will decide to increase the number of days of notice, but it is not going to be too long because the rain is coming and we want to pass through this particular section before it starts.
“The first 47km will be completed in 36 months but with what they have done so far, I wont be surprise if they complete it in two years. Until we procure all the sections, we may not be able to say this is the exact time the project will be completed,” he added.
-Punchng
