Lagos-Calabar Highway Built Above Flood Level — Umahi

The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has dismissed concerns that flooding could threaten the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that the road will not be submerged.

Umahi gave the assurance on Sunday where he also rejected claims that the highway was contributing to flooding in parts of Lagos State.

“The Coastal Highway is not flooded and will never get flooded,” Umahi said.

The minister said flooding along the Lagos coastal corridor existed before the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

He argued that properties on both sides of the highway were affected by flooding, indicating, in his view, that the road was not responsible for the problem.

Umahi explained that some 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 construction showed that the coastal highway needed to be raised above the existing flood level.

He said the decision was taken to ensure that the road was not constructed 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.

The minister maintained that flooding on both sides of the highway showed that the road was not responsible for the situation.

“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 blames flooding on climate change

Umahi attributed the rising water levels along the coastal corridor to global warming and climate change.

He said some properties were built below what is now considered the expected flood level because of changing environmental conditions.

“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.

The minister reiterated that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was not responsible for the flooding.

“The Coastal Highway is a beauty to behold; it has nothing to do with the flooding,” Umahi said.