by Opeoluwa Quadri
The light rail project was initially due for completion in 2011, The project however suffered delay due to funds. The project has been postponed on several occasions. Lagos light rail project is reputed to cost the state government $1.2 billion.
The multi billion naira project runs from Marina, through to Ebute Ero to Fertilizer to the National Theartre down to Orile, Mile 2, Trade fair and to Badagry. Lagos is doing a lot on many fronts. Perhaps that is the reason why it is becoming difficult to complete the project in due time.
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The former governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola before handing over lamented that the Federal government did not support the state on the project. Perhaps putting that forward as a reason for the delay experienced on the project. The Lagos state government has secured some funds from the World Bank for the project according to Ventures Africa.
Yet the project stalls due to inadequate funds
Could it be that Lagos is over burdened with several projects on all fronts, so that it becomes difficult to deliver these projects within the stipulated time?, It is also important to state that most of the projects in the state are PPP driven and a large section of them are financed with borrowed funds.
The advantage in all these projects is in the economic potential the state would derive from them, and the fact that it puts the state in a vantage position to get more foreign direct investment.
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Funds is a major challenge to the Lagos light rail project, the reason for the delay in the completion of the project. But the light rail project in Lagos is not a project to be abandoned, the state would definitely give it all what it takes, the economic potential is huge for the state, it is also an infrastructural leap.
How long we would await the delivery of the project is a question we might not be able to answer but sooner or later, it would be delivered, this is because the light rail project is a desideratum, a part of a new Lagos.