About 39 construction companies, most of them from Europe and Asia within have expressed interest in the construction of the long proposed Lagos Fourth Mainland Bridge.
This followed the opening of the bid for expression of interest in the project by the Lagos State government some weeks ago.
Some of the companies that expressed interest in the project include Julius Berger, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), Kyeryong Construction Company, Pythgoras Holdings, CRCCCI Nigeria, China State Construction and Engineering Corporation Nigeria Limited, Bua International Limited, China Jiangxi International Economic and Technical Cooperation Company Limited, among others.
The gvernment opened the bid to unveil the companies that expressed their interest for the project on Wednesday, in Ikeja, Lagos, with 39 companies signifying interest in the project.
Aramide Adeyoye, the special adviser to the state governmenf on works and infrastructure, said at the unveiling of the bid in Ikeja, Wednesday, that the first of the six stages before a winner would be selected to construct the Fourth Mainland Bridge, describing the process as very transparent.
She said since the government did not have the fund for the project, it had to place it under the Public-Private Partnership, PPP, arrangement, saying government was encouraged by the number of companies that bid for the project worldwide.
Adeyoye explained that the next step, which is the evaluation stage would begin on Thursday, saying that the companies that qualified for the next stage would be contacted.
Peter Agunbiade, managing director, Advanced Engineering Consultants, said the journey to construct the Fourth Mainland Bridge began many years ago, and that the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had made it possible for the construction of the bridge to be revisited.
He said companies in Europe, Asia and others duly expressed interest in the project, assuring that the state government would ensure transparency in executing the bid.
Olujimi Hutonu, permanent secretary, works and infrastructure, also said that the journey started on November 28, 2019 when the advert for expression of interest was placed, adding that three weeks later, the expression of interest had been opened and made public.