The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • Lagos goes vertical to bridge housing gap

    Lagos goes vertical to bridge housing gap

    To meet the huge housing demand of the people, the Lagos State Government said henceforth all her housing estate would be built vertically to accommodate the a greater percentage of people who are desirous of owing houses of their own.

    Commissioner for Housing, Mr Bosu Jeje, said the estates built in several parts of the state, such as Sangotedo, Shitta in Surulere, Omole phase1 and 2; Magodo 1, Igbogbo in Ikorodu, Oba Adegboruwa; Micheal Otedola in Epe, Honourable and Alhaja Adeto Mustapha in Ojokoro, Mushin among others will henceforth be over four floors to maximise the limited land available in the state for housing development.

    Jeje revealed that many of the estates would be delivered in the first quarter of next year to kick off the planned mortgage programme targeted at first time home owners in the state and address the problem of affordable housing for the low income earners.

    The commissioner said people would have between 15 and 30 years to offset their mortgages through the programme. He said some of the houses would cost as low as N4million.

    According to him the mega city status of the state has presented the challenge of accommodation for the millions of residents which the state is trying to tackle by creating an enabling environment for the private sector to develop housing in the state.

    Jeje said the government sees it as part of its social responsibility to provide affordable housing to the teeming public in order to have a sane society.

    On how people can take advantage of the mortgage scheme, he said the government will soon come up with the modalities that will make it easy for people to be part of the innovative home ownership programme.

    He said: “We have not yet decided on the modalities for implementing the scheme. We are yet to decide whether people should come to the office to collect forms or they should fill the forms online. All these gaps are what we are working on right now and as soon as we done we will go public.”

    He said N20 billion was budgeted for the ministry but because they have executed all their projects the budget has gone beyond it.

    On the house types, the housing ministry boss said all the estate have one, two and three-bedroom apartments. According to him the aim is to close the gap between the rich and the poor where all classes of people would live together thereby eliminating class distinction.

    On payment patterns, he said once you have a job the person will be qualified to be part of it. He said: “The scheme is comfortable for everybody, it requires 30 per cent equity contribution from subscribers and there will be banks on standby to take up that equity for the subscribers.

    It is noteworthy that besides the provision of housing for the people, we are also creating jobs because in any of our project sites, we have created jobs for 500-1,000 people and we have ensured that these workers are Nigerians.”

    He explained that once a subscriber buys, the name goes into the data and that makes it impossible for people to buy more than once. But in any case anybody that attempts to buy twice will be liable to criminal prosecution.

    “People will be swear an affidavit that they have not bought before and once you do that it becomes a criminal offence if you are found to have lied. We will try our best that money bags don’t hijack the houses. However, anybody who will come to subscribe to the scheme, must be employed and paying taxes to the state government,” he said.

  • Kogi to partner FHA in housing delivery

    Kogi State is to partner with the Federal Housing Authority towards accelerated mass housing delivery in the state.

    Governor Idris Wada announced this in Lokoja at the weekend while receiving the Managing Director, Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Mr Terver Gemade who paid him a courtesy call in Lokoja.

    He said his administration was eager to fast-track the amelioration of the housing challenges facing the people of the state.

    Wada said the state was determined to leverage its strategic position as a gateway to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to boost the economy of the state.

    He said the state envisaged a time when some of those working in Abuja would decide to reside in Lokoja and commute to and from Abuja daily.

    With the dualisation of the Lokoja-Abuja road nearing completion and the proposed Ajaokuta-Abuja standard gauge rail line, he said it would not be too long for that to become a reality.

    Wada said his administration would create a safe and conducive environment that would make the state attractive to all Nigerians.

    He said housing delivery was a key component of his administration’s development and transformation agenda, adding that already the state government was building 350 housing units in Lokoja.

    The governor said the state government was willing to take advantage of the strength, competence and experience of the FHA in housing delivery.

    He directed that the title for the 100 hectares of land allocated to FHA, a Kungbani village on the Abuja-Lokoja road, be released to the Authority immediately while efforts would be made to allocate more land to the Authority in other parts of the state.

    Earlier, Gemade who led an eight- member team of his management to the Government House, told his host that lack of titles for the land had hamstrung the Authority in its bid to start the development of the estate.

    He said the Authority requested for 300 hectares of land, but was given 100 hectares and appealed to the governor to expedite the release of the allocation papers for the remaining 200 hectares.

    He said the FHA’s new housing estates in Kaduna, Calabar, Gombe, Makurdi, Lagos and Yenagoa were nearing completion and would be inaugurated soon.

    Gemade said the Authority wished to be a key player in the development of the state and urged the governor to accord priority attention to housing because of its huge potential to energise the economy.

    He urged the governor to also take advantage of the FHA’s public-public partnership delivery model, which he said, would relieve the government of the stress of housing delivery.

    He said the government would be required to bear the cost of infrastructure at any site provided for the FHA which would be redeemed with the allocation of a commensurate number of houses to the state government on the completion of the estate.

    The FHA boss expressed sympathy over the flood in the state and praised the governor for the prompt and adequate steps taken by the state government to provide relief for the victims.

  • Ministry proposes roads fund

    To effectively compete with the developed economies, there is need for adequate investment in the infrastructural sector of the nation’s economy, the Minister of works, Michael Onolememen, has said

    To this end, he has called for a legislation that would create a national roads fund and a federal roads authority in the funding method of road projects that is from public sector to private sector driven. This, he said would be guided by independent boards to be constituted

    The body when constituted, he said, would strengthen the efforts to drive road development in Nigeria through the public-private partnership initiative and other funding models that would meet international standard in the road sector development funding challenges.

    He has also advocated for the formation of government yearly budgets, multilateral agencies funding, five percent petroleum tax, private sector fund, road bonds, toll charges among others into the national road fund for the development of roads infrastructure in Nigeria.

  • Rivers, Gambian firm partner on N12.1b Golf Estate

    Rivers, Gambian firm partner on N12.1b Golf Estate

    The Rivers State Government and TAF Nigeria Homes, a subsidiary of TAF Holding Company Ltd in The Gambia, have signed a N12.1 billion partnership agreement for the development of 750 housing units for the upper and middle classes. The houses are expected to be delivered in 30 months, OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE reports.

    The N12.1billion Golf Estate targeted for the middle and high income earners is sited on a 38-hectare land located on Peter Odili Road, Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt.

    At the signing ceremony at the Governor’s Office last week, the Managing Director of TAF Nigeria, Mr Mustapha Nijie, said his firm would build homes that are equipped with high maintenance facility to meet the expected taste of the target audience.

    The estate would be the biggest residential estate with scenery a well-laid out landscape, he added.

    Nijie, whose housing developments in other countries won him the European Council for Global business award for quality and excellence, said the project would also incorporate the development and delivery of infrastructure, such as shopping centres, sports centre, recreation centre, nine-hole golf course, central water sewage and power supply.

    The government equity contribution, he said, includes the 38 hectares, basic external infrastructure, such as power supply, roads and other utilities leading to the project site.

    He promised that the first tenants would move into their apartments in 12 months ahead of government schedule. On the house types, the TAF Nigeria boss said when completed the estate would comprise 200 two bedroom apartment; 408 three- bedroom apartment; 30 three bedroom town/ terrace house; 32 four-bedroom town/terrace house; 10 four bedroom villa/duplex; 21 five bedroom villa/ duplex; 50 plots of site and services; retail and shopping mall; recreational facilities nad nine hole golf course.

    In addition, he said the following services would be offered in the estate upon completion: 24-hour electricity and water suppl; round the clock security (gated community); garbage collection; maintenance of streets and pub- lic areas.

    On costs, he explained that a two-bedroom costs over N12million while a three bedroom town houses costs N35million. The cost of a four- bedroom duplex is N40million.

    The Chairman of company, Mr Basil Omiyi, assured that they would complete the job on schedule with material and encouraged the public to take advantage of the unique opportunity to live in a world standard estate.

    On mortgage facilities, Regional Head, Marketing,Aso Savings & Loans Plc, FCT, Mr Elijah Onyeagba, said the firm expects subscribers to deposit a minimum of 30 per cent equity to qualify. He said his firm was working with Citibank to create mortgage products for Nigerians in Diaspora who might want to be part of the scheme.

    First Bank Group Head, Public Sector, Port Harcourt, Mrs. Nkiruka Harris-Eze, said they were willing to give mortgage facilities to ensure that they would be performing mortgages.

    She said since banks have short term funds, it makes it difficult to support long term funding.

    Earlier, Governor Rotimi Ameachi said any economy that wants to develop must be committed to infrastructure provision , especially housing. He said the partnership between the government and the developer in golf estate would address the social and economic challenges of the people by providing affordable home ownership.

    He said: “In this project, we are not only providing homes but also creating employment opportunities for various skill sets, such as engineers, electricians, builders, construction laboureres and a whole lot of people in the whole distribution chain.”

    He urged the developer to hit the ground running and disregard land speculators who might frustrate their efforts.

    The governor warned the public against disturbing developers on site.

  • Experts seek more training for estate surveyors

    Experts seek more training for estate surveyors

    •’Focus on aircraft, oil and gas installations’

    FOR surveyors estate and valuers to be relevant, they should embrace training in valuation and acquisitions, a past president and Fellow of the American Society of Appraisers, Mr Leslie H. Miles, has said.

    He spoke at the international seminar on plant and machinery organised by the Faculty of Plant and Machinery of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors & Valuers (NIESV) in Lagos.

    He said the opportunity offered by wealthy Nigerians who have high taste for private jets presents a unique chance for surveyors to put their training at the disposal of the society who are in need of it.

    He stressed that the profession is not only about the ‘letting agency’ , but that practitioners should step up to the more challenging and technical aspect of the profession which encompasses the valuation of aircraft , oil and gas installations.

    He said a surveyor could only be competitive with self-development in other areas to acquire the rudimentary knowledge they need to value such high value assets for clients.

    Miles, who is on the Faculty of the American Society of Appraisers Education Committee, encouraged networking with his colleagues to remain relevant.

    He also said in appraising an aircraft, the key knowledge needed include the year it was manufactured, model and what use the aircraft is put into.

    The questions to ask, he said, should also include, identifying if it is a cargo aircraft, special use airplane and an air plane kept in the museum as static display.

    According to him, the understanding of the specification of the item to appraise is of almost importance to arrive at a no controversial appraisal figure.

    Earlier, chairman, Faculty of Plant and Machinery of the institution, Mr Paul Osaji, said they decided on the theme due to their belief that aviation is key to any economy, especially when there is a heightened interest in the acquisition of private jets by wealthy Nigerians.

    He said estate surveyors need to be trained and retrained on how to effectively value and appraise aircrafts and related objects. He said : “ The value of businesses are growing and most chief executives need to move around quickly, safely and conveniently in their own jets but they need to be guided in terms of pricing and maintenance after the purchase. It’s one thing to spend a fortune to acquire a jet and another to maintain it to the extent that it will have a second hand value.”

    Osaji said there is no better time to get the training than that the nation has moved from having 50 private aircraft to 200 to prevent air mishaps due to improper maintenance by the owners or age valuation of the aircrafts before purchase.

    He said they have the adequate training and expertise to do valuation on any type of asset.

  • Govt rethinks concession of Lagos-Ibadan road

    Govt rethinks concession of Lagos-Ibadan road

    How will the public interest best be served? Is it by concessioning the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway or by throwing it open in a competitive bidding? With Works Minister Mike Onolememen saying the road will be handed over to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to advertise for bidders after its ongoing rehabilitation, the days of concession may be numbered, writes OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE.

    The Federal Government may have made a ‘u’ turn on the consessioning of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway following the revocation of its agreement with Bi-Courtney Highway Service (BHS). The government revoked Bi-Courtney’s contract to build operate and transfer (BOT) the road following what it called “serial breaches of the concession, especially the company’s failure to reach financial closure as provided for in the agreement”.

    Works Minister Mike Onolememen told The Nation that the road would be handed over to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to advertise for bidders after the ongoing remedial by Julius Berger and RCC. Julius Berger and RCC, he said, were hired to do emergency reconstruction of the road to reduce carnage and enhance safety preparatory to full reconstruction.

    The minister said: “The previous concession agreement entered into by government had an exit clause, we initiated and terminated the agreement based on what was provided in the contract. In India three road concession agreements were cancelled because there was no financial closure. There is nothing unusual about what we have done.”

    Onolememen said BPE would do its work by pre-qualifying contractors after the ministry has approved the design for the highway.

    The Nation learnt from a source that the price may be scaled down from the over N89 billion to about N60 billion as the road will not be concessioned again.The source also revealed that government may reach an agreement with the former concessionaire to trade the design of the road for a fee since they already have done extensive work in coming up with the design of the road.

    Noting that part of the reasons the rehabilitation of the road was delayed the source said government will prefer to hit the ground running with what is available but certainly the source was too sure that the Federal Government has kissed bye-bye to the concessioning of the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. On the likely firms that may get the job, the highly placed source said the two companies would be given top priority due to their track record and the fact that they have an agreement with the Federal Government in Lagos and many other parts of the country.

    Furthermore he said in ranking Julius Berger may get it since they are known to handle high technical jobs in difficult terrain for the government before now.

  • Land Use Charge not to victimise anyone, says Oshiomhole

    Land Use Charge not to victimise anyone, says Oshiomhole

    The Edo State Land Use Charge Law 2012 is not targeted at punishing the rich or poor, Governor Adams Oshiomhole has said.

    Addressing reporters after signing the law in Benin City, the Edo State capital, the governor said: “We will enforce the rule of law because no one is above the law. Government must continuously protect the weak and provide for them by taking from the rich to help the poor. This government will not victimise anybody. Tax laws are compulsory levies and not something you voluntarily buy into. No law is made at the convenience for anyone. That is why law is a leveller for all categories of persons. I have the trust of Edo people and I will not betray that trust.”

    If the rich must protect their investments and riches, he further said, they must pay their taxes and other levies that would help the government to provide the essential services that would make their investment safe.

    The law, according to him, is targeted at anyone who owns a house that occupies more than 100 by 100 square metres.

    “We understand that everybody uses land, but the amount of it that we use differs. That is why the law is targeted at the propertied class in order to help our poor population of people who are in the rural areas and urban slums. In places where you have family houses, rural settlers, the law will not apply to them. If you are like me, who has a modern structure or building, you will have to pay tax, because my house occupies more than 100m by 100m square metres”.

    He said the aim was to encourage those who use more land to pay for the government so that the government can cater for the greater population of our people who are predominantly poor, adding: “This is a pro-development law. I have seen and listened to commentators who have not read the law but are already condemning it. That is not the way to go about it.”

    He warned that anybody who flouts the law would be prosecuted. It is a criminal offence for you to evade taxes, the governor warned.

    He explained that the law provides for a consolidated approach to collection of levies and taxes or charges but has a proviso of exemption of certain categories of persons. For example, Section 9 subsections 1(a-i) specify clearly those who are exempted from the property tax. Such as properties owned and occupied by religious bodies, approved exclusively for religious worship or any other non-profit making religious education are exempted; ditto for public cemeteries, burial grounds, public libraries, palaces, and any other property exempted by the Governor through notice published in the State Government Official Gazette.

    Others exempted, he stated, are owner occupier residential property, which is 100metre by 100metre maximum in a non-choice area of an urban area, 100 metre by 100metre in a non-choice area in a rural setting, community property solely for community meetings, activities and events; owner occupier pensioner property and owner occupier of over 60 years old; and the last but not the least, family compound.

    He stressed that the exercise of the governor’s discretion over exemption would be guided by the reports of the assessors of any property to ensure that the right status is ascertained before any tax is imposed on it.

    The law, the Governor, said provides for a Tax Assessment Review Tribunal, which shall be set up pursuant to Section 46 of the Administrative Structure Law of Edo State.

    He said the Tribunal will have powers to summon any one to examine him, and require answers to any question, which it may deem fit to put concerning an appeal before it; and administer oaths and affirmations as well as enforce the production of all books and documents which it may consider necessary.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Public Affairs Prince Kassim Afegbua said the law is not what cynics are saying about it.

    According to him, the Governor means well for the people of the state because he wants to execute several development initiatives, which will have direct impact on the people.

    Rather than raise dust over the law where none exists, Afegbua counselled that the Governor should be applauded for coming up with a law that is on the side of the poor and vulnerable who are in greater number against the rich that have continued to be greatest exploiter of the goods and services of government.

    “If we must help the poor which is the motivation of the Governor, we must take from the rich and propertied class to bridge the gap of inequalities. Nobody is saying you cannot live in a choice building or an architectural derring-do, but you must be ready to pay the tax due for such a property. You can choose to build an archipelago and live to your comfort, but something has to go into government’s coffer who is the provider of the basic amenities, so that those amenities could remain running for the good of all”.

    Explaining why the law has to take effect immediately, Prince Afegbua stated that given the fact that revenue accruable to the state is on the decline, the governor had to look inwards to see how to generate legitimate revenue using appropriate legislation to do so.

    He added that it is such measures that have helped the state to attain its height. “You see, the government is not a popularity contest. It is a platform where the collective aspirations of the people are aggregated in a manner that the government sets its priority right to cater for a greater number against a privileged few,” Afegbua added.

  • Workers for training

    Professionals in the construction sector and other players in the industry will tomorrow hold a workshop for concrete workers in Lagos State.

    The Group under the aegis of Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) and the Lagos State ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and others in a parley said the idea is to bring a multi-disciplinary approach to the problems of building collapse.

    Chairman of the group, Mr Kunle Awobodu, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said: “Noting the crucial role of the concreting managers and artisans, such as the machine operators, the carriers, spreaders, vibrator operators, bricklayers, carpenters and iron benders, there is no better time than now to bring the artisans under one umbrella to educate and assist them in applying the knowledge.

    He said the discussions, which involve the various arm of government, would include training concrete workers on the standards stipulated for concrete mixing by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), safety especially in the handling of concrete materials, quality control and need for materials testing including the essence of water in concrete with batching by weight and volume.

    Awobodu said the training would also involve quality control tests, cube tests and curing test. This is in addition to what would be a major exhibition from the Lagos Materials testing Laboratory of various machines and equipment for production and testing of concrete.

  • NCF, Chevron others launch GIS

    Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF), Chevron and Birdlife International have launched the Geographic Information System (GIS) to create awareness for their activities.

    At the event, a scientist, Mr Ogunsesan Adedamola, described GIS as a computer-based tool for managing and analysing data that has a spatial or geographic dimension to aid work flow.

    Prof. Seyi Fabiyi said GIS helps in managing the security of data in a given area.He added that low internet density is a major factor militating against the country from benefiting from Geospatial technologies.

    The Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria Limited, who was represented by Mr Muyiwa Agboola, praised the initiative promising to do more.

  • ‘Only 2.5% of lands in Nigeria are registered’

    NOT more than 2.5 per cent of lands have been registered in the country, it was learnt.

    This means that about two million land titles have been registered against the over 150 million land titles.

    The Chairman, Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform (PTCLR), Prof Peter Adeniyi, made this known in Abuja at the PTCLR Dialogue on legitimising Systematic land titling and registration in Nigeria.

    He expressed displeasure that Nigeria is ranked a dismal 180 on a scale of 183 countries in the world in terms of the ease of concluding land transactions for business and investment while Ghana is in the 36th position.

    It was against this that the Federal Government set up the PTCLR not only to collaborate and provide technical assistance to states and local governments to undertake comprehensive cadastral mapping nationwide and determine individuals’ “possessory” rights using the best practices and most appropriate technology: “but also to make recommendations for the establishment of (a) a national deposition for land title holdings and records in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and (b) a mechanism for land valuation in both rural and urban areas as well as other recommendations that will ensure effective, simplified, sustained land administration in Nigeria.”

    He said: “Since formal land registration commenced in the country in 1863, not more than 2.5 per cent of lands in Nigeria have been registered. In fact, in the whole country, well below two million land titles have been registered against the potential of over 150 million titles. It is no surprise; therefore, that Nigeria is ranked a dismal 180 on a scale of 183 countries in the world in terms of the ease of concluding land transactions for business and investment while Ghana is ranked number 36.”

    One of the steps being taken by the committee in pursuance of its task, Adeniyi said: “is the adoption of a systematic Land Titling and Registration System which is globally known to deliver secure titles to wide cross section of the population at reasonable cost to landholders. Its adoption however requires some legislations and regulations.”

    The main goal of the dialogue, he said is to identify and address legal issues and other constraints that may arise in or impede the process of implementing the systematic land titling and registration in Nigeria within the context of the Land Use Act and to proffer practical and programmatic solutions that will legitimize the process and the outcome.

    Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Amal Pepple acknowledged that the issue of land titling and tenure has been a major problem of land governance in Nigeria and vowed to ensure that right things are done to successfully accomplish the pilot systematic land titling and registration in Nigeria.

    She said the outcome of the dialogue could enrich the product of the council on the regulations as the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development prepares to lay it before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for consideration.

    Former Chairman of the PTCLR, Prof Akin Mabogunje advised the government to take land titling and registration more serious, urging stakeholders to contribute their quota to the success of the committee.

    Mabogunje said: “the present dialogue seeks to secure professional stakeholders support and experience in dealing with the numerous multifaceted problems that are bound to be encountered in the process of implementing and executing systematic land titling and registration all over the country.”