Naira policy: Construction workers abandon sites as cash crunch worsens

The construction industry has taken a hit from the naira shortage in the country as many workers have abandoned sites in search of cash.

BusinessDay gathered that some workers working on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway have abandoned the site due to the scarcity of cash for transportation and feeding.

An estate developer who did not want to be identified said he had closed his site and asked his workers to return to work when the cash situation has improved significantly.

Umar Bakare, the federal controller of works in Lagos, said on Wednesday that the naira policy was posing a serious limitation on the continued construction work on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Bakare said the contractor working on the stretch of the expressway from the Old Tollgate to Sagamu Interchange had notified the ministry that they would discontinue work on the expressway until the situation improved.

“We have already got notification from the contractor of their intention to stop work because some of the workers cannot come to work because they cannot lay their hands on cash. However, we will continue to push on. But no doubt, this cash problem has affected some of the things they want to do,” he said.

The controller said the naira scarcity is making it impossible for the construction workers to report to the site.

He, however, said work on that section of the expressway has progressed well, having achieved about 95 percent completion.

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Besides the cash crunch, Bakare said another challenge to the construction work was traffic. “But we have a good traffic management plan, which we have shared with relevant agencies in Lagos State and other relevant federal government agencies like Federal Road Safety Corps and the police.”

Julius Berger, the contractor handling the reconstruction of the expressway, returned to the site in January 2023 after the road was closed in December 2022 to ease traffic during the festive season.

“The measure was to give an opportunity to those returning from end-of-year holiday to have better motoring experience,” Bakare said, adding that the suspension of work on the expressway was short-lived as the contractors returned to the site a few days later to continue and complete work between Kara and Long Bridge within 20 days.

He appealed for patience from road users and lane discipline around construction zones, saying that the government was always concerned about their welfare and the need for them to have good motoring experience.

He said the schedule of government to complete the entire project in March 2023 was still on course. Section one of the expressway where work is ongoing stretches from Ojota in Lagos to the Sagamu Interchange.