The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • Firm set to deliver 500 houses in Abuja

    As part of Federal Government’s efforts to bridge the housing gap, a private firm, B.A.M. Projects & Properties, has promised to build and deliver 500 affordable housing units in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The Communications Officer of the firm, Kelvin God’swill Musa, said the project located at BELHAM Estate in Karsana District near Gwarimpa Housing Estate, is being developed on a 45-hectare of land. The units are: two-bedroom apartments, three-bedroom town houses, three-bedroom luxurious apartments, four-bedroom detached bungalows and five-bedroom villas.

    The Director, B.A.M Projects and Properties, Mr Abba Bello Mohammed, told reporters, shortly after the just-concluded Ninth Abuja Housing Development Exhibition which was held at the International Conference Centre (ICC) that his company had since three years ago embarked on the project having successfully completed all necessary building processes. An approval by the FCTA for a development lease was thereafter issued to the company under the mass housing scheme of the FCDA.

    He disclosed that his company is an emerging mass housing developer to watch in the FCT armed with the endorsement and recognition of the FCTA to participate in the scheme based on its cognate experience, expertise and full compliance with the laid-down procedures of the government.

    According to him, his company gained official recognition after it completed all the necessary procedures for registration such as payment of compensation to original settlers, approval of the engineering design and a certified development planning design.

    On why information about the project had been delayed until now, Mohammed explained that the company chose to utilise the opportunity of the exhibition to showcase itself to the housing and property market. He said that his team wanted to be sure that the project had taken off as proof to the public of its seriousness about the project. He expressed delight that public response to the range and quality of the houses so far has been impressive and encouraging.

    “With B.A.M Projects & Properties, you can be sure of our sense of quality and care as they blend with our reputation. It is only when you enter the houses that you get a true idea of how much thought and care that went into each property. We have taken every opportunity to blend comfort with contemporary style with insistence on the very best fixtures and fittings. This is only good for our esteemed clients”, he said.

    He said BELHAM Estate which is about 10 minutes drive from the Central Business District of the Capital City represents the climax of his company’s over six years’ arrival into the nation’s housing industry, adding that the company is founded  on the philosophy of “just do it well, the patronage will surely come”.

    “Our passion for craftsmanship, exploring  architectural heritage and for interior design has led to BAM’s projects being garlanded many times over in the industry and the media. By consistently maintaining standards and implementing a progressive programme of innovation, we have successfully participated in some of the best high profile schemes in the housing industry”he said

  • FHA’s Social Housing Scheme to transform sector’s deficit

    FHA’s Social Housing Scheme to transform sector’s deficit

    • 800 Co-operative Societies embrace scheme

    As the housing shortage in the country persists, and home ownership becoming more difficult especially with the high cost of construction, more Nigerians are now keying into home ownership through the mortgage system. And to make the process easier, especially for people in the informal sector or those not captured under the National Housing Fund (NHF), Nigerians are now taking advantage of the window of opportunity now made possible by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), through its Social and Co-operative housing programme. This scheme allows the informal sector, especially artisans and traders, to form themselves into cooperative societies, through which they can apply for mortgage financing or support from the authority. Through this scheme, financially weak members of cooperative societies could latch on to the strength of the group to make real their home ownership dreams.

    As at the end of last week, about 800 Co-operative societies nationwide, with no fewer than 50,000 members, have indicated interest in the Social and Co-operative housing programme of the FHA, says the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Authority, Professor Mohammed Al-Amin. Many of the cooperative societies, he disclosed, approached the FHA on their own prompting having heard of the social and cooperative housing scheme of the authority, adding that the authority is deliberately cultivating cooperatives in various parts of the country so as to strengthen them to tap into the programme.

    Al-Amin said the authority was focusing on housing delivery for the most vulnerable groups in the society comprising the no-income, low-income and middle low-income earners. To that end, he said the authority had developed special packages for collaboration with non-governmental, faith-based and community-based organisations.The FHA is also working with research institutes for the development of local materials for the construction of houses to make building construction cheaper.

    The FHA boss also hinted that the authority was initiating a savers scheme which would enable workers in the formal and non-formal sectors of the economy own their houses. Also, he said the FHA was working with state governments towards the implementation of a rent-to-own housing scheme which would convert rents paid by tenants for the eventual ownership of such houses. Al-Amin said the preference of many Nigerians for bogus housing designs was one of the major impediments to home ownership, adding that the authority would embark on a campaign to get people to moderate such tastes. He identified lack of housing finance for off-takers, poor conceptualisation and haphazard land acquisition processes as the major causes of the collapse of the National Housing Programmes of the former President Sheu Shagari and the late General Sani Abacha administrations. The FHA, Al-Amin explained, is conscious of these problems, and mobilising all stakeholders to ensure the success of its housing programmes.

    Al-Amin, who was part of the Management Team of the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (FMLHUD) that briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the state of affairs in the housing sector, said the President was passionate about the delivery of affordable mass housing for Nigerians and the rehabilitation of houses destroyed in the on-going insurgency in the North East.

    The President’s interest, he explained, made him request for a viable road map for the implementation of Social Housing for the masses, adding that Buhari was emphatic that an efficient and effective social housing would, among others, make Nigerians benefit from governance.

  • Environmental degradation: LASG to restore Oshodi

    After enjoying commendable sanity, especially in the early years of the last administration in the state, Oshodi, an area noted for its beehive of commercial activities, is fast losing the beauty and sanity it once enjoyed. Indeed, while the former governor Babatunde Fashola administration got thumbs up for the unbelievable transformation it brought to the Oshodi metropolis, this transformation began to systematically fall apart, and gradually returning the area to the notoriety it was noted for, especially in the twilight of the administration.

    For instance, from the early hours of the evenings, from 6:00pm up to 11:30pm, journeying through Oshodi is a nightmare, as mini buses take over the entire road, parking and loading passengers indiscriminately. The presence of policemen and other law enforcement agents has not helped matters, as they also turn a blind eye to the lawlessness perpetuated by the bus drivers, and extorting money from them. This, it is believed, has emboldened the commercial bus drivers on this route.

    Now, the Lagos State Government has expressed deep concern over the attitude of traders and mini buses operators on environmental degradation of Oshodi area occasioned by illegal street trading, hawking and indiscriminate parking habit on the road thereby creating heavy traffic bottleneck for other road users. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, Mr Oluwatoyin Onisarotu, during an assessment tour of the area, noted that the area had been littered with refuse dumps, human wastes, illegal shanties and stalls, illegal motor parks, street trading and noise pollution among others.

    Onisarotu, who emphasised that the state government remains unwavering in its commitment to a clean, hygiene and flood free environment urged traders and mini-buses operators in the area to desist from their indiscriminate loading and off-loading of passengers and goods on the main road, adding that open urination and defecation, indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains and unapproved sites, illegal street trading/hawking, indiscriminate displaying of goods/wares on drainage alignment, road set-backs, trading along the railway line, medians are forbidden by the State Environmental Sanitation Law.

    He stressed that the peace, security and health of the people living and doing legal business in this environment is being compromised daily through the indiscipline being perpetuated in the area daily.

  • Fire control: Ogun wants laws domesticated

    Worried by the spate of flagrant abuse of the fire safety laws by owners of some petrol stations and companies across the country, the Ogun State Director of Fire Services, Mr. Akanbi Obiwunmi, has advocated the need for state governments to domesticate the recently approved National Fire Code Laws by the Federal Government in order to put an end to the fire menace.

    Obiwunmi, who disclosed that the Ogun State Fire Service within the last eight months recorded six deaths during fire fighting operations, and attended to 576 fire calls involving residential buildings, petrol stations and other infrastructure within the same period. The death recorded were of individuals and not officials of the service that were trapped in the fire incidents before the arrival of his workers

    The director, who was quoted in a statement by the spokesman in the  state’s Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ayokunle Ewuoso, said the call for the state governments to domesticate the  approved Federal Government fire code laws became imperative because the existing fire laws in some of these states have made fire service authorities “toothless bulldogs”.

    He said: “Fire service is not the only approving authority as regards allowing people to establish petrol stations or companies. We are just a part of the approving authorities. In most cases, these petrol dealers or owners of companies would have built their structures, commenced operations and even gotten approvals from other relevant authorities before coming to fire service which is completely illegal. We are expected by the laws governing their establishment to have visited the proposed location of the business to carry out site inspections and clearance before the establishment of such venture. The problem here is that once they have been given approvals by other relevant authorities it becomes difficult for us to sanction them.”

    “This arrangement has completely changed due to the recently approved National Fire Code by the Federal Government, this new code has given fire service authorities across the country the power to sanction any defaulter, but as we all know we are running democratic governance so such laws must be adopted at the different state levels before it becomes operational. It is not operational in Ogun State yet, but the Permanent Secretary in charge of the Ministry Of Works and Infrastructure, Kayode Ademolake has written a memo to the governor informing him about the new laws and the need of such laws to be domesticated, ” he explained.

  • Cleaner City: Lagos, firm partner on recycling of waste oil

    Cleaner City: Lagos, firm partner on recycling of waste oil

    To tackle the indiscriminate handling/management and disposal of spent/waste oil, a major contaminants of its ecosystem, the Lagos State Government has said it will partner with Ecocycle Technology, to begin a recycling programme aimed at ensuring a cleaner environment.

    The General Manager/CEO, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Adebola Rasheed Shabi, said the move was aimed at protecting the environment and the prevention of further contamination of the surface and underground water body in the state.

    He said under the new system Lagosians whether corporate or individuals, would be encouraged to deposit their used oil at any of the specially designated collection centres across the state for onward disposal by the firm.

    Shabi said since the proper management of used oil is a major environmental concern, in accordance with the laws setting up the agency, it would be an offence for anyone to discharge their spent fuel indiscriminately into storm drains or elsewhere in the state when the system finally rolls off.

    He said: “The goal of this effort is to ensure an environmental quality that is consistent with the social and economic needs of the state, in order to protect human and animal health, welfare, property and quality of life.”

    He further stated that the continuous monitoring and control of the disposal of solids, liquids and gaseous wastes generated by both government and private facilities has led LASEPA to setting some benchmarks that has ensured the safety of lives of residents.

    He said approximately about two hundred million litres of used oil are dumped on the bare ground or into storm drains nationwide every year, with no one bothering about its adverse effect on the environment and human health.

    “Improperly disposed oil can contaminate drinking water and harm aquatic animal and plant life, by depriving them of nutrients and oxygen. These waste oil contains heavy metals (i.e. Chromium, Lead, Zinc, Mercury, etc, that bio-magnify in the body tissues of the aquatic animals such as Cyclops, Planktons and other Benton) that are primary producers in the food chain,” he said. When these primary food chains are consumed by man, he explained, they become carcinogenic (cancer causing agents), in the human bodies.

    With this partnership, LASEPA, Shabi said, is encouraging Lagosians to protect the state’s natural resources, surface and underground drinking water supplies by properly disposing used motor/engine oil at public collection centres that would be appropriately designated across the state.

    The Managing Director of Ecocycle Technology Mr. Albert Adewunmi said the firm is determined to put an end to the contamination of the ecosystem as a result of waste oil through a beneficial recycling system that is meant to make the environment cleaner.

    He listed some of the products that could be generated from the recycled waste oil to include fresh engine oil, diesel, asphalt residue, which could be mixed with bitumen, as well as soap.

    “The recycling would also create work opportunities for hundreds of people directly and millions indirectly as waste collectors, and job creators,” Aderomi said.

    He added that the recycling system comes with a waste buy back opportunity where the firm would be paying a token to anyone who patronises it by bringing their waste oil in exchange for cash.

  • Family restates ownership of Agbara Land

    Following a landmark judgment of March 23, 2012, which reinstated the parcel of land in Agbara, Ogun State to the Ilamiro/Ilashe Kingdom, the family has further affirmed that they are the rightful owner of the plots of land at Agbara.

    The judgment was delivered by Justice A. Akinyemi at the Agbara Division of the High Court of Justice sitting at Ota Division, Ogun State.

    According to the community’s Youth President, Mr. Gbenga Akintan, said  the clarification had become necessary to warn the public from falling victim of unscrupulous transactions with the wrong people.

    He said judgment has confirmed the Ilamiro/Ilashe Kingdom as “the bonafide owners of all that piece or parcel of land at Agbara’’.

    An extract from the judgment read: “Upon the judgment, the full right of ownership has reverted to Ilamiro/Ilashe kingdom collectively and that no single individual or any group of persons parading any power of Attorney whatsoever can deal or sell or alieniate any portion of the said land without the consent of the accredited representatives of Ilamiro/Ilashe family’’.

    Akintan told The Nation that the representatives of Ilamiro/Ilashe family are Paul Olabisi Ajose, Elder Mahmud. K. Owolu, Chief Akinde Jagun, Chief Sunday Obanla, Mr. Julius Alashe, Mr. Gbenga Akinmitan and Mr. Ruben Alashe.

    The case, which had Chief Adele Alayan, Mr. Nureni Orokoko as plantiffs on behalf of the Ilamiro chieftaincy family of Igbesa, and Messers Segun Sodipo, Rafiu Amusa Apesin, Waheed Yusuf, Abiodun Adepoju, Chief S.O Opara and Akanni Dikko Soyombo, as defendants on behalf of the Agbara community, was further contested at the Court of Appeal.

    However, Akintan said of the four  justices that presided over the matter at the appealate court, three ruled in favour of the family. He assured that soon, the  government would hand over the land title to them as a confirmation that the family is the owner of the land. He also said Ilamiro/Ilashe family are of the Awori stock and not Eguns or Ilajes as was erroneously reported.

    The Awise of Ilamiro, Chief Taiwo Akinmitan, dispelled a rumour of a division among the Ilamiro family and the Ilashe family, a statement that was also corroborated by Elder Mahmud Owolu, the Palace Coordinator, who is acting as the leader since the death of their king.

    An elder in the community, Superior Evangelist Paul Akintan, recalled that  the kingdom is an ancient town and  belonged to their forebears. He and some elders were all born  in Ilamiro and many of them are still in the town and that the public should ignore anybody that called himself the sole person that has the right over the said land.

    Elder Edun Okesola confirmed Akintan’s words.

  • FHA’s Lugbe Estate to benefit from Abuja expansion

    FHA’s Lugbe Estate to benefit from Abuja expansion

    The Assistant General Manager, Town Planning, Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Hajiya Aminat Salawu, has said the Authority would benefit from the plan of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to expand the Abuja City near the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport.

    The plan, the owners said, would integrate Lugbe and its surrounding communities into the Phase Five of the Federal Capital city, near the FHA Estate, Lugbe, thereby making it a major beneficiary.

    “When the plan is implemented, Lugbe Estate will be better structured. It will have better facilities. Lugbe Estate will go through urban renewal and upgrading. It will become more viable, and as the plan unfolds, it would further translate to improved lives for residents of the FHA’s  sprawling estate laid out on over 385-hectare in the area,” Salawu explained.

    The proposed district centre for Phase Five is in the estate as well as an oriented road and a major collector road.

    But the development would not be without pains as it would lead to major physical, social and economic dislocations for residents. Salawu said her unit was super-imposing the structural plan of the new phase on FHA Estate’s layout and its satellite image. This steps, she further reiterated, were aimed at helping the authority to determine the number of its houses and plots that would fall on the right of the way of the facilities.

    According to her, 500 of such housing units and plots of land had been identified, whose owners would have to be relocated.

    While the FHA would provide a social safety net for those to be affected by the new land, the FCTA will bear the cost of relocation.

    The FCTA is conducting a census of the development in the affected area to effect the required adjustment to the structural plan for the new Phase Five.

  • Abuja Garden Estate ‘will have good facilities’

    ASO Savings and Loans Plc has asked buyers of its ASO Garden Estate not to worry about the quality of infrastructure that will be in the estate, assuring them that they would be of the international standard.

    The Managing Director, Aso Savings, Hassan Musa Usman, who gave the assurance while receiving the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), Prof. Charles Inyangete, said the estate was a product of the bank’s vision of providing affordable housing to Nigerians who are desirous of living in a safe environment in the Federal Capital Territory.

    Usman said the estate would change the face of property market in Abuja, adding that it aims at breaking the price jinx associated with premium properties in the city with its flexible payment plans, which do not require a prospective buyer breaking his bank account before owning a decent home in Abuja.

    ASO Garden Estate,  a 900-housing-unit being built on a 27-hectares of land, is located near Gwarinpa, along the Kubwa Express Road, Abuja.

    It is being planned as an affordable property that the middle income earners can afford. The promoters assured that the estate will boast of a neighbourhood shopping centre, children’s playground and park, ample parking space, hospital, police post, fire service and  schools, adding that it is offering all the amenities at affordable prices.

    While inspecting the estate, Inyangete praised the management of ASO Savings for the quality work done on the project, saying that the estate exemplifie affordable mass housing, which was the main thrust of NMRC.

    He urged other primary mortgage institutions  to emulate ASO Savings’efforts by making housing available and affordable for Nigerians.

    With flats at a starting price of N17 million,  phase 1 of the estate comprises 249 housing units, made up of two and three-bedroom exquisite blocks of flats and four-bedroom terraces.

    The project which is at 80 per cent completion, is planned for inauguration in November this year. The flats are  six per block, and each has two (or three) bedrooms, with open plan living, kitchen area, all rooms en-suite. Individually priced starting at N17 million for the two bedroom and N23 million for the three-bedroom flats.The four-bedroom terraces offer a well-planned living accommodation set over two floors; these terraces have stylish features like  open floor plan. There are four bedrooms on the first and second floors, all en-suite as well as a spacious kitchen. There is an adjoining dining area on the ground floor.

    When completed, the estate will comprise 900 homes, ranging from two and three bedroom apartments, four-bedroom terraces to five-bedroom  detached luxury houses.

  • UN-Habitat releases guidelines on urban planning

    The United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat), has predicted that by 2050, seven out of 10 people will be living in cities, leading to a rapid urbanisation.

    According to the body, this trend has been fueled by inappropriate policies, plans and designs of towns, which has led to inadequate spatial distribution of people and activities, and resulting in proliferation of slums, congestion, poor access to basic services, environmental degradation, and social inequity and segregation.

    To this end, the UN-Habitat has released guidelines to provide governments, local authorities, civil society organisations and planning professionals with a global reference framework that promotes more compact, socially inclusive, better integrated and connected cities and territories that foster sustainable urban development and are resilient to climate change.

    The guideline, known as the International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning, serves as a compass for policy makers and urban professionals when reviewing urban and territorial planning systems.provide national governments, local authorities, civil society organisations and planning professionals with a global reference framework that promotes more compact, socially inclusive, better integrated and connected cities and territories that foster sustainable urban development and are resilient to climate change.

    It also comes in handy when reviewing, developing and implementing urban and territorial planning frameworks, and will be available in seven other languages of Arabic, Chinese, French, Persian, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.

    The drafting of the guidelines, which spanned over two years, was supported by 35 experts, through a broad-based consultative and participatory process and based on evidence, good practices and lessons learnt from various contexts and at various planning scale.

    The United Nations (UN) agencies and members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives at UN-Habitat were also consulted and briefed throughout the development of the Guidelines.

    The process was supported by financial and technical contributions from the government of France through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the government of Japan through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism the Prefectural Government of Fukuoka, the Municipal Government of Fukuoka and Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka.

  • Family accuses police of complicity in land dispute

    Family accuses police of complicity in land dispute

    A faction of the Ipetoro family of Ogijo in Ogun State has accused the Police of subverting an investigation into a disputed land involving two factions of the family. The 110- acre land is located in Ojijo.

    In a petition to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase, the family said the police had made another faction of the family to constitute itself into a nuisance, terrorising the community with dangerous arms and weapons.

    The Counsel to the petitioners,  Ebiwonjumi Obatayo of E. Obatayo and Co,  said his client has forwarded a petition to the IGP on the matter, adding that the petition was assigned to the Federal SARS, Abuja, to investigate.

    But Obatayo alleged that instead of allowing investigations into the matter, the land grabbers wrote a petition to the Ogun State Police Command, Abeokuta to thwart the SARS’ efforts.

    He also alleged that the counter petition was masterminded by Sheriff Akaun, fronting for the other family, a retired Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police, Usman Akaun and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Adesina, who he claimed, were the OC of X-Squad in Abeokuta.

    “The modus oparandi of these police officers is to harass, intimidate, molest, and level series of criminal llegations against my clients, and in the process, extort them of very huge amount of money. Besides, the other family faction boasted that the Policemen and the Force as an institution, is in their pocket and they will frustrate the investigation of the petition,’’ he said.

    Obatayo added that when the DIG directed the officers accused of taking side with other faction to hand over the case file to the officer of SARS, the directive was not adhered to. This impunity, he reckoned, has led to the suspects taking over the village, causing mayhem, and making life unbearable for the community.

    The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, explained that the petitions from the two groups were sent to the state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), and the matter referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for investigation.

    He declined comments, saying he had not seen the reports on the petition. He, however, said since the matter was under investigation, it would be wrong for anybody to accuse the Police of complicity.

    He declined knowledge of any complaint against the police on the matter, advising any aggrieved person to approach the CP first before any other thing, adding that he is convinced the CP had not received complaint against the police.

    “But, I know we handle such a matter. And if anybody thinks we are not handling the matter properly, the group or any individual having grudges against the police should approach the CP and complain of anything they noticed,” Adejobi added.