By Baron Ike
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State will soon unveil the new investors for the long awaited Fourth Mainland Bridge.
This was revealed on Tuesday, May 23 by the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Adebowale Akinsanya during a ministerial briefing in Alausa, Ikeja lagos.
He said the governor had terminated the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a consortium of firms to build the Bridge at the cost of N844 billion over slow pace of work.
The MoU for the 36 km bridge, which two past administrations had promised to do was signed on 25 May, 2016.
The project was to be financed by Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Access Bank, and other private investors who have already signified intention to be part of the construction, while Visible Assets Limited would be the coordinating firm.
Akinsanya cited the slow pace at which the concessionaire was working as the reason behind the termination of the contract.
He said: “Due to slow pace of work, the contract was terminated. We are now looking at many investors, though interest is very high,” adding that investors had started scouting for the project from different parts of the world, though the state government had not decided on the proposals it had received.
Akinsanya added: “The state government has started the proposals. We have such investors from South Korea, Europe and the United States, among few others. What we are doing now is vetting the proposals. We do not want to waste any further time. So works are in top progress on the 4th Mainland Bridge.
“The investors would be named very soon, the state government will enter into concession agreement with appropriate investors that deliver the project.”