The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has on Sunday, August 7, ordered the immediate closure of the damaged Apapa Bridge, in order to avoid any possible disaster.
Post-Nigeria gathered, that the development is coming at a time when Fashola, had braced up to the responsibility of a ‘Super Minister’, as he had also marshaled out plans on how to achieve 24/7 un-interrupted power supply in the country.
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The Minister who made this known, while addressing a stakeholders meeting in Lagos, said the 40-year-old bridge, links Nigeria’s premier port to both the Lagos Mainland and Island, and it’s closure was a necessary measure, as it would save lives and prevent avoidable mishaps.
He said, “In a situation like this, we need to choose between inconvenience and safety.“The first thing to do is to shut down the bridge for the sake of safety and I appeal to residents to bear with us’’, Fashola said.
He however, noted that the Ijora/Marina-bound vehicles, would be diverted to other routes to reduce inconveniences.
While expressing dismay at the long years of neglect that resulted to the dilapidation of the bridge, he said, “We are dealing with several decades of neglect, and there are quite a few bridges across the country that are dying for maintenance, and we have to take steps to fix them as soon as possible”.
A team of engineers who had earlier warned of the impending danger and possible collapse of the bridge, had told the Minister that the support of the bridge had become very weak.
They said the structural defects caused by an alleged fire outbreak underneath a portion of the bridge, is gradually becoming a life-threatening structure to motorists and passengers.
The engineers decried that the degenerating situation in the bridge had led to several man-hour loss, aside the wear-and-tear drivers experience on their vehicles.
According to them, some of the reinforcement rods on top of the bridge’s centre had become exposed, as the asphalt covering them had been eroded.
Meanwhile, the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos State, Mr Godwin Eke, while reacting to the deteriorating nature of the bridge, also reiterated that the deck of the bridge, which was constructed about 40 years ago, had become weak.
He disclosed that the Ministry had written to all security agencies to assist in managing traffic in the area during the maintenance work.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Dayo Mobereola, in his own submission, said alternative access routes from Apapa would be cleared of all encumbrances.
He disclosed that truck owners had already agreed to move their vehicles from the alternative access routes, as Julius Berger begins the palliative works.
Those who attended the stakeholders meeting include: members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and Representatives of the Unions in the Agencies of the Maritime sub-sector.
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