The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, on Friday, explained the rationale behind the installation of closed-circuit television, also known as surveillance cameras, on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
Umahi, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, said the cameras were installed to check among other things suicide cases on the popular bridge.
He also expressed worry over the excavation of sand under the deck of the public facility.
“We have put CCTVs down under the deck so that anybody that is excavating sand within the 10-kilometre radius will be spotted. We have built, beside the bank of the sea on Third Mainland Bridge, an examination house where we have the police, navy, army and local security.
“They will all be there watching the CCTV so that anybody who is trying to take his life on the third mainland bridge, they will spot the person. With this CCTV, there will be no more excavation of sand under the deck around the pies.”
The minister also weighed in on the reopening of the Independence Bridge in Lagos following emergency repair works.
He stated that the closure was prompted by a structural failure involving the approach slab of the bridge, which caved in due to a faulty design.
According to Umahi, the initial construction of the approach slab was done as a cantilever, which was structurally inappropriate.
He stated that the slab failed when the sand fill beneath it leaked, compromising its integrity and posing a serious risk to commuters.
Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway
While expressing satisfaction with the level of work on the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, the minister noted that 30 kilometre of the road will be made available for President Bola Tinubu to inaugurate by May 25, 2025.
“The beginning of section one, as at today, about 15 kilometres by two carriage way on the average has been achieved, and at the end of the project at Eleko where section one stopped, about 5 kilometres has been achieved,” he stated.
“So, the idea is by 25th of May 30 Kilometres continuously will be made available for Mr President to Commission from the beginning of section one down to kilometre 0 to 20.”
