Guardian

PRESSED to seek an enduring solution to the unending disputes and deterioration of Festac Town in Lagos, the  Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms Ama Pepple has raised committees to restore the estate to its  former glory.

The two committees are to look into the long-standing issues of Land Use Charge and the physical planning which have for long thwarted development in arguably Africa’s largest residential estate.

The minister while speaking at a stakeholders meeting which had representatives of the Federal, State and Local Government as well as the residents association, stressed that she was acting on the directive of the President Goodluck Jonathan who is disturbed by reports of the decay of the estate.

Appointing the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Toyin Ayinde and Special Adviser on Tax Matters, Lagos State, Mr. Bola Sodipo as heads of the two committees, Pepple emphasized that the meeting was to enable all stakeholders’ resolve pending matters and come up with a joint implementation plans.

She said: “I am giving the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) a seven-day ultimatum to give the master plan of Festac town to the Lagos ministry of Planning and Infrastructure. This meeting is to come up with a joint implementation plans. I can tell you no one is happy with what has happened in the estate and how it has degenerated into a parlous state”.

The minister further expressed concern over the collapse of the central sewage system in the estate, the total takeover by squatters of the buffer zone meant to shield the estate from the busy Lagos-Badagry Expressway and the unresolved issue of payment of ground rents.

FHA Managing Director, Mr. Terver Gemade while responding to the minster’s concerns said the authority was determined to rehabilitate the ageing infrastructure in the estate but lamented that the money involved in conducting a total overhaul was beyond the resources available to the Authority.

Gemade who stressed that most residents no longer observe the original terms of occupants agreement, bemoaned residents’ response to the new public water supply, as well as conversion of residential to commercial buildings and use of heavy-duty trucks in the estate.

He said more roads would be fixed in the coming months and thanked the Federal Government for its renewed interest in the estate.

However, President of Festac Town Residents Association, Jola Ogunlusi, while reacting to the FHA GM’s statement, debunked the allegations and stressed that some of the claims were over exaggerated.

According to him, residents have been the ones fighting the battle to restore the estate by kicking against the sale of gardens and parks for building and removal of illegal shops.

He said, “We are the one who fought where three of our members lost thier lives against the sale of the park at 206. Some few years ago it was also our members that removed about 200 illegal container shops.”

Ogunlusi further called on govt to help provide an alternative route for Abule Ado residents who are also part of Festac town.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development explained that for Festac Town to be fully restored, a review of its master plan was necessary even as all stakeholders in the area need to work on the same page to improve the situation.

He also urged the Federal government to come to the aid of the estate by resuscitating the entire dilapidated infrastructure.

Similarly Special Adviser on Tax Matters, Lagos State, Mr. Bola Sodipo, who spoke on the part of the government called for all stakeholders to come up with suggestions and amicable ways of resolving disagreements.

He assured that the issue of property tax would be harmoniously settled adding that the best way forward can only be through negotiations.

On his part Amuwo Odofin’s Local Government’s Chairman, Ayodele Adewale lamented the deplorable state of some basic facilities in Festac Town due to abuse by residents

On the state of the sewage system in Festac Town, Adewale regretted the actions of some residents who diverted their sewage pipes into open drainage stressing that the unsanitary act poses great danger to the environment, which will manifest either now or in the future.