Babatunji Wusu –
Senator Dave Umahi, Minister of Works, has stated that the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project will only remove 15 meters of Landmark Beach’s beachfront and shanties.
Recall that the Lagos State Government issued a 7-day evacuation and demolition notice for Landmark Beach Resort, claiming that the property lies in the way of a 700-kilometer coastal route from Lagos to Calabar.
However, in a recent interview, Landmark Group’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Paul Onwuanibe, stated that in the original designs for the coastal highway project, the road was supposed to start from a different course before passing through the Resort.
As a result, he urged the federal government to resume construction of the coastal road on the original alignment planned before it was shifted to the course of the Landmark coastline.
Umahi told Arise News on Thursday that the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal route would not result in the loss of any permanent structures or jobs in Landmark Beach.
He indicated that the coastal highway project will only remove 15 meters of the shoreline and a few shanties along that line.
As a result, the minister reassured Nigerians and the Beach’s owner that all other facilities in the business zone would remain operational.
He said: “I went to see Landmark yesterday (Wednesday). I had to tour that shoreline and he is not the only one that is involved. We had a very good chat. I went there to understand something. His Excellency said that twelve thousand jobs will be lost and I told Landmark that by what we are doing, no jobs will be lost.
“What could be lost is the shoreline and the people that go to play at the shoreline, but his facilities are all intact because we reduced the corridor to 15 meters and we saw that there are no permanent structures other than a few shanties along that shoreline that are affected.
So, I told him that no job is lost and he agreed with me because tackling this council without knowledge is just heating up the system. All his structures are all intact and no single one of them is to be demolished.”
Umahi also said that even by the ruling of the Supreme Court, the land on which Landmark is running its business belongs to the federal government.
He said by actions of magnanimity, the construction of the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway will only require 15 meters of the shoreline from the tourism destination, which is irrevocable.
The minister also called on the public to disregard any false information pointing to people losing their jobs as a result of the construction.
He said: “I am told by Eko Atlantic that even where Landmark is situated belongs to them but that is not supposed to be my business, and who owns the land is not supposed to be my problem but by the recent Supreme Court judgement, the act about the waterways, gave the right of the ownership of the land to the federal government; 250 meters from the point of the shoreline to federal government which means the land belongs to the federal government.
“But we are interested here because we are talking about investment and we are happy with investment, and so we are taking 15 meters of that shoreline and it is irrevocable. We have been magnanimous by reducing the corridors to 15 meters just to ensure that not only his properties but the properties of the other people along that shoreline is secured. They have dished out wrong information that jobs will be lost and properties damaged but that is wrong.”
