Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, said yesterday that the owners of properties demolished to give the right of way to the Lagos-Calabar Coaster Highway are to get N2.75 billion compensation from the Federal Government.
The minister, who unveiled the new design routes for the 700 kilometre project in Lagos, chided former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi for ‘inciting’ the people of the Southeast against the government over the project.
He explained how the affected property owners would be compensated, warning that the former Anambra State governor would not be in a position to fight for the ill-informed people he was inciting after getting them into trouble.
The first batch of property owners affected by the construction got their compensation at the ceremony organised by the Federal Ministry of Works.
The highway is designed to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through the coastal states of Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom, before culminating in Cross River.
But, controversy has trailed the project, following the demolition of Landmark Beach Resort, valued at $200 million, to create a right of way for the project which is estimated to cost the federal government N15 trillion.
Unveiling the new road design, Umahi said: “It’s my pleasure to unveil the new design route, and I wish to flag off the compensation from chainage zero to chainage three in a total sum of N2.75 billion. That is very ambitious.
“It’s my pleasure to invite the Director of Design and the Controller to call the people and give them the symbolic amount agreed and to assure that before 1p.m. tomorrow, you will all get your alert as agreed.
“It will be difficult to show you all that we have done here to protect the claimants so that you don’t go to their houses, this one is private to us.
But the smaller ones, we can do that symbolically, but no cash is paid.”
The minister also announced that all tenants affected by the demolition at Landmark would receive compensation.
He said: ”All tenants within the Landmark premises have been shortlisted for payments by 2 p.m. today. That closes the politics of Landmark.”
