Last lap of land reclamation for Eko Atlantic City to end in 2023—Developer
Though it started since 2006 under the administration of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the final lap of sand-filling scheme on the massive over 10 square kilometres Atlantic Ocean front on Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island will be delivered at the end of 2022-2023.
This was the revelation of Mr David Frame, the Managing Director of South Energyx Nigeria Limited, core investors in the Eko Atlantic City (EAC) project.
Business Hilights gathered that South Energyx is a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, currently spearheading the planning and construction of the 21st century city combining space for residential, commercial, financial and tourist development.
Whereas few signature high-rises had been delivered and occupied, more are still rising not minding the fluctuations in the value of Nigerian naira to US dollars and ever-changing price floor of essential building materials lead by cement and iron rods.
In a recent interview, Frame revealed that “In total, over 10 square kilometres of land will be reclaimed in which we have already completed about 65 per cent of the sand-filling and we have another one and half kilometre of sea wall to complete and on top of that we have to put into consideration the roads and infrastructures.
“So in terms of the rim works, we project that at the end of 2022-2023, we would have finished the sand filling and the sea wall. We have adopted a shape whereby the current is trained to run parallel to the coast and not to attack the walls and we are protecting the sand in front of VI and Lekki but it does not extend to Epe.
“As at when we reclaimed the land, we started with the drainages, roads, power cable distribution, water supply, surge system, IT services to give Nigerians that network they would require in a 21st century city
Giving further explanatory insights on issues of coastal erosion in view of claims in certain quarters that the multibillion dollar scheme is transferring coastal erosion down southern part of Lekki peninsula and even further down to parts of riverside Ondo State, Frame averred that “The fact is that coastal erosion is ongoing not just in Lagos but in other coastal parts of Nigeria. If you go to Port Harcourt, it is happening there.
“This means that this situation needs attention and is receiving attention by the various states government. There are fears that this might extend to coastal parts of Nigeria after completion of this project.
“No, it will not go that far because the attack of waves is coming from the South West, so once it reaches landfall, that power is dissipated, so we are not transferring this problem to other states but there still remains issue of how to protect the coast of Lagos state, that is why I said the erosion is going on but what the Lagos state government has done is to embark on series of stripes of rocks which are 200m long above the sea and what it does is that it rests the erosion of the coast line and prevents sand from being lost.
“This is what the government is committed to as these structures have been used in the United Kingdom to rest erosion and maintain the shore lines as well as containing the sand between the stripes of rocks. The Lagos state government has built 18 of these along the coasts right up to alpha beach and embarking on producing more of these structures,”Frame noted.
