Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State over the weekend took a trip from Beijing to Dalian, a city famous for its aquatic products and a coastline of about 1,900 kilometers in the Northeast of China.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, who is currently on a working visit to China with some government officials, visited the famous Dalian Urban Planning Exhibition Centre in Xigang District, on Saturday.
During the visit to the Exhibition Centre, the Governor was conducted round the three-floor building loaded with historical changes in the city’s ongoing construction, its current conditions, and the blueprint for future development.
The Dalian Urban Planning Exhibition centre provided the guests an opportunity to learn about the past of the Chinese city, the transition to the present day and its transformation and a demonstration of what the immediate future would look like.
In a related development, Governor Sanwo-Olu reassured Lagos residents that the long-awaited Fourth Mainland Bridge project would begin shortly as he urged the contractor handling the project, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to ensure the groundbreaking of the project in March.
He said his administration is committed to the delivery of the Fourth Mainland Bridge, noting that the legacy project is his government’s commitment to enhancing transportation for millions of Lagos residents.
Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke during a high-level meeting of Lagos State Government officials with the President and management of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation at its headquarters in Beijing, China, earlier in the week.
Sanwo-Olu, who commended CCECC for several roads and bridges they have constructed in different parts of Lagos, said the State Government will continue to partner with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.
He said: “The Fourth Mainland Bridge is one of our legacy projects. We are committed to that project. We want to do that project like yesterday. We have assured Lagosians that this administration is going to do it.
“We are working with your team back in Nigeria to see how best we can start that project as soon as possible. We don’t have all the funding to do it but we have a lot of pressure from different people. So, if CCECC can help us, we can sit together and try and see how much funding we both can raise and start the project.
“I have to deliver this project. I got only three years to go and I have to deliver it. You (President of CCECC) have to help me to ensure that we deliver the Fourth Mainland Bridge. It is what we need in the State and it is something that we want to do. We have been talking about it for a long time and I want to put it behind me.
“It has to start very soon. I made a commitment before the end of the first quarter; if I can achieve that, I will be very happy. I want to break ground may be in March or April to start that project. I will be happy if Mr. President of CCECC helps me to achieve this. It would be one of my greatest joy as a Governor in the State.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu while stressing the need for a continuous relationship between the Lagos State Government and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation for infrastructural development in the State, said Lagos doesn’t see CCECC as a contractor but partner.
Packaged by Alaba Igbaroola
