How FG plans to stop Lagos illegal sand mining – Minister

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The federal government has moved to stop illegal sand mining in Lagos, due to its hazard to concrete piles carrying the various bridges in the state.

Dave Umahi, Nigeria’s minister of works, stated this on Monday when he inspected the ongoing under-d3eck projects at the Iddo Bridge, Carter Bridge, and the Third Mainland bridges, all in Lagos. He attributed the weakening of the piles to illegal sand dredging.

“The piles are being held by the skin friction of the sand, of which some of these sands have been eroded over the years, and illegal mining also contributed to the eroding of the piles.

“Some of the piles have rusted which has gotten to the concrete piles, and some of the reinforcements of the concrete piles are exposed,” he said.

The Minister said that Closed-Circuit Television Cameras, CCTV, would be installed around the bridges to check the activities of illegal sand miners. On the pace of repairs on the bridges, Umahi said that work had “almost finished (on) the deck job, though we are extending the deck job, and then we are also constructing CCTV and observation room.”

“We are working on a number of bridges we inherited, we inherited construction work on Eko Bridge, Marina Bridge, Liverpool Bridge, Iganmu Bridge, and Independence Bridge, all done by Buildwell.”

“There is no solar on Carter Bridge yet, but we would like to do what is being done on Third Mainland Bridge on Carter Bridge, and as much as budgetary provisions would allow, a lot of the bridges in Lagos need attention, not just in Lagos, all over the country, of which I would give attention to.

“We have considered 18 bridges, what we are doing here, we are doing at the Murtala Mohammed in Kogi State, there are a number of bridges that are ongoing, some collapsed on the expressway, some collapsed on Enugu-Port Harcourt, some collapsed between Jos and Benue, we have gone very far in all these bridges, and we have gone very far on them following the directive from the president,” the minster said.