The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) declared on Saturday that the possible delay in the completion of the Lagos-Ibadan rail project owing to the outbreak of Coronavirus is better than exposing the health of Nigerians to risk.
Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, had on Thursday, said the outbreak of Coronavirus in China might delay the completion of the rail project.
The COVID-19, which has become a global health challenge, is threatening the April deadline of the project being handled by the China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation (CCECC).
The minister said the bulk of the workforce handling the project was stuck in China, where the disease broke out and spread to other countries.
According to him, the Chinese government prevented some of the workers from returning to Nigeria because of the virus.
Reacting on the possible delay, Lagos Railway District Manager, Mr. Jerry Oche, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the federal government would not sacrifice health of Nigerians because of any project.
“The simple question we should ask ourselves is what do we want? Do we want to be infected with the Coronavirus because we want to meet the time for the completion of the project?
“Or we prefer a situation where the Chinese take care of themselves and get over the epidemics before coming to complete the project so that we all will be safe and healthy?
“The project we are talking about is for the living people, not for the dead. If the Coronavirus should infect us, how do we handle that?” he said.
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