Thursday, November 27, 2014

Lagos residents delaying state projects, says gov



The Lagos State Government says most of the delayed and abandoned projects in the state are results of litigations from residents.

The state’s Governor, Babatunde Fashola, during the inauguration of the Igando Emergency Relief/Resettlement Camp in the Alimosho Local Government Area, said many Lagosians had allowed private interest to override public interest.

He lamented that the attitude was at the roots of challenges encountered by the government in project delivery across the state.


The governor said, “This impedes the state government’s effort to deliver projects that will improve the standard of life. Last night, I got a report that some group of residents had gone to seek a court order to stop the government from building ferry terminal in Osborne.

“This was the ferry terminal that is almost completed. And the court, without hearing from the state, gave injunction that the contractor should leave the site.

“I think that we will continue to have this issue in a democratic system to balance the interest of few people against million others.

“We were trying to build a pedestrian bridge at the Iyana-Ipaja area of the state, and a resident took the state government to court and alleged that the users of the bridge would be looking into his house. These are some of the challenges we face in trying to deliver dividends of democracy in the state.”

Fashola, who pointed out that residents had been waiting for the state government to urgently complete the Igando project, said Lagosians must understand the balance between public and private rights.

The governor said the state had concluded plans to construct another resettlement centre in the Lagos Central Senatorial District of the state to cater to internally-displaced persons.

According to him, the old and new resettlement centres are proactive measures for disasters that can arise from unforeseen circumstances.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed, had said the 1,600 capacity centre, was constructed with about N798m.

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