Owners of business enterprises affected by the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project have lamented low patronage.
These, including the popular Hardrock Café, have been closing shop since work began on the project.
It was learnt that Good Beach, which used to be a beehive of activities including parties, has been placed under lock and key.
Similarly, Landmark Tower, a grade A mixed-use commercial real-estate development, comprising a main building with 10 floors and a leisure centre, has been drought-stricken. The flow of visitors to the facility has reduced to about 80 per cent.
When The Guardian visited Good Beach, security men were seen preventing people from gaining entrance, on the ground that there was no longer any activity going in the place.
Surrounding business concerns, including supermarkets, had also closed and moved out of the Landmark Event Centre.
The 27-year-old Landmark Group had been in business in Nigeria for over 20 years. Within that period, it had attracted over $100 million in foreign and domestic investment through the Landmark ecosystem. The closing down of the beach, however, has taken a toll on the initiative and rendered thousands jobless.
The management was quoted as saying: “To be clear, we identified this beachfront property in 2005. We made payments for it in 2006 and have had unhindered access to the shoreline ever since. We registered our title to our property and secured formal rights from our lessor to develop the beachfront into what is now known as Landmark Beach.
“At various points between 2012 and 2016, we spent millions of dollars shoring up the same shoreline against ocean surges that were progressively eroding it and threatening infrastructure further inland.”
Despite assurances of a realignment by Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, business owners said the destruction of the beach has killed sales and driven customers away.
When The Guardian visited the Bayroot Bay and Lounge, the management of Leisure Lifestyle lamented that it had lost millions of dollars since the construction started. It said people had not been coming to hold events again.
The popular Hartleys supermarket had also moved out of the Landmark event centre. An attendant, simply identified as Michael, said: “We have moved. We are no longer here.”
The manager of a store who identified herself as Lucy Tutu, said: “People have not been coming. Those who do only go to the hall which some still use for events or exhibitions.”
Asked about sales, she said: “We were making N500,000 in a week. Now, we hardly make up to N100,000. It was beach goers that used to patronise us, however, business is down. I don’t know if the owner will be moving out but some of our neighbours have already moved out to other locations.
A phone seller, Sandra Daniel, said business had gone down by 80 per cent since the beach was destroyed.
She said: “People have not been coming here to have fun. The only visitors are people coming for conferences and meetings.
“My boss is thinking of moving out of this place because many businesses have left.”
