WorldStage
Newsonline-- Residents of Badia community in Ijora, Lagos have staged a
protest to Lagos State House of Assembly overthe abandonment of Lagos
Metropolitan Development Governance Projects (LMDGP), a World Bank
assisted project aimed at developing shanties and slums within the
state, in their domain.
Led
by their representative in the House, Muyiwa Jimoh and Prince Kayode
Obadiah, a community leader, the protesters displayed various placards
with captions such as 'LMDGP, tell us why you want to sack the
contractor?' No roads for PSP vehicles,' 'Apapa Iganmu: LMDGP, your
system five is a failure,' 'Our houses have been demolished, please help
us,' 'Gov. Fashola, we thank you for using good contractor for your
roads' among others.
(LMDGP
had embarked on construction of roads, sinking of boreholes,
ultra-modern schools, complex and canal constructions which the
protesters claim had been abandoned in the area.
In
a letter addressed to the state governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola and
copied to the Assembly, signed by leaders of the community, it was
alleged that LMDGP had taken over the project from the contractor
(Seg.Mahen Co. Nig.Ltd). The residents wondered why the project was not
re-awarded to another contractor.
"We are writing this letter to our Dear Excellency sir, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), the governor of Lagos state and the contractor Director, Mr. Dayo Oguntunde representing World Bank in Lagos State to please save our souls.
"The World Bank has visited this community before our communities were enlisted among the areas to be assisted and we are part of Lagos," the statement read.
Some
of the projects already abandoned included Canal (System V), which
according to the letter was supposed to serve as alternative to the
drainage had stopped since 2011 resulting into serious havoc affecting
the whole community.
While
championing the cause of his constituency during the protest, Jimoh
hinted that "the LMDGP has terminated the project as we speak and has
not re-awarded it." He therefore appealed to the state government to
urgently intervene to save his constituents from impending danger.
In
his response, the chairman, House committee on Information, Strategy,
Security and Publicity, Segun Olulade, who represented the speaker,
praised the protesters for conducting themselves in a peaceful manner,
adding that his colleague Jimoh had been proactive in his determination
to making sure that the issue is amicably resolved.
"As
a member of committee on Works, I know the role he has been playing in
ensuring that the matter is seriously looked into. I want to assure you
that the House would surely look into it with immediate effect,"
Olulade promised.
Adding
that the delay in completing the projects maybe due to the process of
re-awarding the contract because the earlier contract has since been
terminated because of misunderstanding between LMDGP and the contractor.
