Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi on Monday said the laying of tracks of Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line would start in December.

He also said that Jibowu and Costain bridges in Lagos would be demolished to give way for the new railway lines.

Amaechi made the remarks in Lagos when he met with the Steering Committee of the project and the China Civil Engineering Construction Company.

The minister said “The two bridges that we may likely demolish are Jibowu and Costain to give way to the rail lines.

“But we are rebuilding them immediately; we are not going to abandon them.

“The challenges will be in the cities like Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan because we have to pay compensation, look at the water pipes, gas pipes, houses and cables.

“In Lagos especially, we deal with bridges, electric cables and water pipes and other assets.”

Amaechi also said that CCECC was consulting with Lagos State Water Corporation, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, among others, to facilitate relocation of water and gas pipelines that were parallel to the railway line.

He added that CCECC would start laying tracks by December in Lagos, noting that parts of the rail lines that would be used for the project would arrive the country by end of November.

The minister while inspecting the level of work done, called for speedy work by CCECC so as to meet the deadline.

He called on Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to ensure that adequate security was provided for officials of CCECC handling the construction of the rail line.

He urged the Coordinator of the project, Mr Leo Tim, to complete the necessary documentation to facilitate the provision of security on site by relevant security agencies.

The minister visited Ijoko, Papalanto, Itori and Ewekoro community in Ogun State as part of the monthly site monitoring to ensure the project met the timeline by December 2018.

NAN