Lagos PDP, George fault closure of Third Mainland Bridge

Bear with us, no better time than now, says Fashola

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has said that the six months closure of Third Mainland Bridge for maintenance work will create serious economic and social havoc to residents.

George, in a telephone conversation with The Guardian, yesterday, decried the sufferings motorists and commuters were subjected to in the last two days since the repairs started.

He, therefore, urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his predecessor, the incumbent Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to ensure that one side of the bridge is opened and be temporarily converted to a dual carriageway for motorists while the repair work continues on the other side.

In a similar vein, the Publicity Secretary of PDP in Lagos, Mr. Taofik Gani, said while the repair work on the bridge is necessary, he faulted the governor for haphazard preparation, stressing that Sanwo-Olu and his advisers failed to plan ahead of the pains and agony that the closure would inflict on the people.

MEANWHILE, Fashola has described the ongoing repair work on the Third Mainland Bridge and other Federal Government projects in the state as a result of a long time of neglect by successive governments in Nigeria.

He, therefore, appealed to Lagosians to bear the pain, which the sudden closure may have caused, saying that there is no better time to repair the bridge than now.

The minister spoke in Lagos yesterday when he paid an official inspection visit to the on-going repair work on the Third Mainland Bridge to ascertain the status of work done and the impact of the partial closure on traffic movement.

“We hear you all the residents and commuters saying this road has not been done and some roads need attention. What we are doing now is responding essentially to all the issues you have raised. I hear people say ‘why are you doing everything at the same time.’ We wish there is another way,” he said.

He said that the major cause of delay since 2018 was as a result of being sensitive to the plight of motorists seeking a better time.

Earlier, the state’s Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, said about 650 LASTMA personnel had been deployed by his ministry to support FRSC officials on the ground to direct traffic and ensure less congestion.

He said that the state government through the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure had done palliative work to ensure alternative routes are motorable.