Ambode: Lagos Rail Line to be Ready by December

Ambode: Lagos Rail Line to be Ready by December

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday stated that his administration’s commitment in ensuring that the Blue Line of the light rail project is up and running by December this year.Ambode, who spoke at the Fifth Lagos Corporate Assembly, a forum for public-private sector engagement held at the banquet hall of Lagos House, Ikeja, while responding to questions from chief executives of industries and members of the organised private sector (OPS), debunked claims that work had stopped on the first phase of the project connecting Mile 2 to CMS, saying the allegation was totally untrue.

A statement issued by his media aide, Mr. Habib Aruna, said Ambode informed his audience that “the truth is, you might not see the contractors but they are actually working on the waters for now and by December this year, the project will start running. So work is seriously ongoing”.
The governor added that government was also about to conclude the channelisation of the waterways in Lagos to improve water transportation so as to encourage investors and reduce the pressure on the roads in the state.

He assured members of the OPS as well as would-be investors that the state was more than willing and ready to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive with the overall aim of improving on the socio-economic well being of the citizens.
The governor said as a government, he was ready to partner with existing and would-be investors for industrial growth as long as such investors bring value to the state.

While responding to issues raised by captains of industry and members of the OPS at the forum tagged, “A+ Meets Business”, Ambode said as part of measures aimed at encouraging investment, his administration created the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund to give soft loans to entrepreneurs at three per cent, while the Office of Overseas Affairs and Investments, otherwise known as Lagos Global, the Office of Civic Engagement, as well as the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment Generation were equally established, in order to promote investment opportunities.

He said as part of measures to create of an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, his administration was also in the process of establishing the Lagos Micro Finance Bank, which would go a long way in providing succour for business owners.
He said: “As we speak, we are in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on this and very soon we shall come up with the Lagos Micro Finance Bank and this is another effort geared towards the economic well being of our people.”