Developer Denies Claim That Eko Atlantic Wall Contributed to Ocean Surge September 20, 2011 By: Kingsley Adegboye

Messers Chagoury Group has debunked the claim that the recent ocean surge at the Bar Beach in highbrow Victoria Island, Lagos, was caused by the protective wall of the multi-billion dollar Atlantic City project currently under construction. The company, whose subsidiary, South Energyx Nigeria Limited is reclaiming over ten square kilometres of land from the Atlantic Ocean to build the City which on completion, would be home to 250,000 people and workplace for another 150,000, insisted that the surge was not in any way caused by the sea wall separating the Bar Beach from the new city.

Clearing the air on the matter during the visit of British industrialists and financiers led by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Michael Bear to the Eko Atlantic site, the managing director of South Energyx Nigeria Limited, Mr. David Frame, claimed that the sea wall minimized the effect of the surge on the beach. According to him, the effect could have been more severe without the sea wall.

Mr. Frame said the surge experienced at the Bar Beach a few weeks ago, came from the west coast of North America and contributed to the stormy conditions on oceans resulting to the surge. He argued that "if it had not been the Eko Atlantic wall, the effect of the surge on Victoria Island would have been far greater. If you look at the wall of Eko Atlantic City, it was not destroyed. This is because it was designed to withstand this type of waves. The wall is not just to protect Eko Atlantic City, it was designed to protect the entire Victoria Island. The weather condition we experienced a few weeks ago was a serious test to the sea wall. The sea wall was able to withstand it. The designers of the sea wall took a lot of things into consideration when they were designing it. They built into their calculations the belief that sea level will rise by maximum of one meter by the year 2,100. So, that idea was built into the design of the sea wall," he said. Continuing, he said. "We are building a wall that will be seven meters above sea level. There is more than enough capacity for the wall to protect the whole of Lagos from the ocean surge. And on top of this, the design is adaptable. For instance, if by the year 2,2000, sea levels have risen further, the structure can be raised to meet that. It is a modular design with the possibility of extending the wall. However, we don't envisage that that will happen because projection of 1,000 years was put in the design of the sea wall when it as designed in 2009. This means that at 1,000 years, the matter the seriousness of weather condition that may affect it. The 1,000 years criteria were subjected to test. So, I think that design is more than capable to withstand any weather condition." The South Energyx boss said.

Explaining the mission of the British industrialists and financiers, Frame said as head of the City of London Corporation which provides business and local government services to the City, the Mayor of London's role is to represent UK-based financial and professional services in countries and projects of interest. He added that the visit to Eko Atlantic City was for financial cooperation which the developers of the gigantic City will follow up.

He stated that the development and construction of the project has assumed a significant stride as work on the essential road network has commenced. The latest move is as a result of the successful completion of the first phase of land reclamation for the project that was commissioned by Lagos State Governor, Babtunde Fashola in March this year.

According to him, so far 2.7 million square meters of land upon which the will be built have been reclaimed for the first phase of the project while another 2.7 million square meters of land will equally be reclaimed off Bar Beach for the phase two of the project, pointing out that "the progress we have made further underlines our commitment to the development of Lagos State and the Nigerian economy on one hand, and the growth of Africa on the other hand. We are in deed very delighted to be part of the ongoing effort that is helping to open up Africa to more global investors," he said.