The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has dismissed concerns that flooding could threaten the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that the road is not at risk of being submerged.
Umahi gave the assurance on Sunday while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, saying the coastal highway was designed to withstand flooding.
“The Coastal Highway is not flooded and will never get flooded,” Umahi said.
Lagos Flooding Unrelated To Coastal Highway
Umahi also dismissed claims that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is contributing to flooding in parts of Lagos State, arguing that the flooding predates the project and affects properties along both sides of the coastal corridor.
He explained that some of the buildings in the area were constructed decades ago, before climate change and rising flood levels became major concerns.
“When we started the project, you find out a lot of the projects we built, some had lasted for 50 years. The ocean is by the right and then the Lagoon is also by the left and by the reason of the Lagos State government law, you do not channel the affluent water from your premises to the ocean, you channel it to the lagoon then the lagoon now channels to the ocean.
“Now, when these houses were built, there was nothing like climate change, so they were built below the flood level,” he said.
According to the minister, studies conducted before the construction showed that the highway had to be raised above the existing flood level rather than built at the same level as surrounding properties.
“And so when we now did our study, we found out that we needed to raise the coastal highway above the flood level and we must not put it at the level of existing premises and that is what happened. So, we raised the road above the flood level,” Umahi said.
He argued that the presence of flooding on both sides of the highway showed that the road was not responsible for the problem.
“You should ask yourself since the ocean is by the right and the lagoon by the right, both left and right of the premises within the coastal corridor are all flooded and so it has nothing to do with the coastal highway,” he said.
Umahi further attributed the flooding to rising water levels associated with global warming and climate change, noting that properties along the corridor were built below what is now considered the expected flood level.
“At the Coastal Way corridor, the premises we built below at expected flood level occasioned by global warming, the climate change. Do you accept there is this issue of global warming? Do you accept there is a climate change? Do you accept that there is unusual flooding all over the country?” he asked.
He maintained that the coastal highway itself was not responsible for the flooding.
“The Coastal Highway is a beauty to behold; it has nothing to do with the flooding,” Umahi said.