Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has dismissed concerns that flooding could threaten the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that the multi-billion-naira project was deliberately designed and raised above the prevailing flood level.
Umahi, who spoke at the weekend, also rejected claims that the coastal highway was responsible for the flooding currently affecting parts of Lagos State. “The Coastal Highway is not flooded and will never get flooded,” the minister said.
According to him, studies carried out before construction commenced showed that the road had to be elevated above the existing flood level because many properties along the corridor had been built decades earlier, when flood levels were considerably lower.
He explained that the highway runs between the ocean and the lagoon, with several properties along the corridor predating the effects of climate change and rising water levels.
Umahi said the findings of the project’s studies informed the decision to construct the highway at a higher elevation rather than at the level of existing buildings.
“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,” he said.