Lagos — Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) , weekend , explained why World Bank projects in the state are becoming deplorable, citing project timeframe, funding, storm and flooding as major reasons.

LAMATA, while responding to a story THISDAY published last Monday, said it only got a credit facility of $150 million from the Bank to execute the first phase of the Lagos Urban Transport Project (LUTPI).

In a statement signed by its External Relations Specialist, Mr. Kolawole Ojelabi, the agency said it carries out four types of maintenance works, stating that the intervention in Ijegun, Isolo, Ogba, Isheri,and Agege were maintenance specific, and funds allocated for a project ìcan neither be increased nor reduced without approval from the Bank."

It said the types ìinclude routine, periodic, recurrent and rehabilitation.î Routine maintenance, according to the statement, involves drainage cleaning, vegetation control and road cleaning while recurrent involves patching of potholes under a term contract for specific period,say one year for road maintenance.

It said periodic type ìentails overlaying of road periodically, say every five to seven years while rehabilitation maintenance however involves complete re-building of road from the sub-base to its original position. Most of the interventions were one-off."

It specifically cited the 3.4 kilometre Ikotun-Ijegun Road which it said was successfully rehabilitated and by all standards ìis still highly motorable and was commissioned in 2006."

The agency said the intervention at the time were borne out of the exigencies to make roads motorable before LAMATA begins to concentrate on its core responsibilities of implementing a world-class intermodal integrated transportation system for Lagos.

In a specific reference to WEMPCO road, it said : "Lagosians will note is a long stretch of road with no drainage system. As a result, storm and other domestic water from the area find their way to the junction, thus impacting repair work done on the junction.

"It must be pointed out that asphalt and water are no friends. Just like any roads, junctions are not static. Whatever improvements done on roads and junctions must go through a cycle of accumulating roughness and only constant maintenance can restore the pavement or junctions to their original state.

"Unfortunately, funding provided for all the different types of maintenance is one-off."

It also stated that LAMATA ìnever installed street lights along Ejigbo-Jakande and Egbeda-Akowonjo roads, though were fixed as part of the Bus Franchise Scheme whose infrastructure is still under construction along the Iyana-Ipaja-Egbeda-Idimu-Ikotun road.

"The only area where LAMATA fixed street light is along the Iyana-Ipaja-Egbeda-Idimu-Ikotun road. The street lights were fixed as part of the Bus Franchise Scheme whose infrastructure is still under construction. The street lights have not been energised because the entire project needs to be completed before the street lights are on," it said.

LAMATA also noted that the World Bank projects in Lagos State were adjudged one of the best in Nigeria and indeed in sub-Saharan Africa, a reason it claimed has prompted the Bank to extend another credit facilities for the implementation of the Lagos Urban Transport Project (LUTP II).