The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has vowed to tackle problem of housing in the state, saying he has given approval for the construction of more low-cost housing estates in the state to solve the accommodation challenges facing residents of the state.
The governor, who made this promise yesterday while commissioning 72 units of three-bedroom Elegant Court housing estate located in Ikota area of the state, said construction will commence on a new scheme soon.
Fashola said the housing units were delivered under the state Public Private Partnership (PPP) deal with Cortex limited, adding the solution to the nation’s housing deficit did not lie with the state government alone, but required concerted efforts by all stakeholders from both the state government to the federal government.
According to him, the new housing scheme built on 1.9 hectares of land was evidence of the partnership that exist between the government and entrepreneurs who want to do legitimate business of building houses, which would in turn be sold to the middle and upper income strata of the society.
He explained that the government provided the land for the project, while the developer injected funds to build the houses, adding that the profit that the government would make from this partnership will be invested in the Lagos Homes project, to fund the constructions of social Housing Scheme.
Earlier, The State Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje, said PPP arrangement was geared towards removing bottlenecks, thereby strengthening private sector participation in the housing delivery process.
He said the new housing estate had a functional planned human settlement with facilities to sustain a healthy living environment for residents.
Jeje listed these facilities to include shopping mall, road network and parking with drainage, central sewage system, swimming pool or lawn tennis, central alternative power supply, water treatment plant or water hydrant , central gas distribution or park and solar street lightening or CCTV system.
The commissioner hinted that the ministry had developed a template for appraising interested private developers as well as facilitating necessary sign-off from relevant ministries and government agencies on behalf of these developers.