The Nation Newspaper

Category: Business

  • Poor safety standards worry builders

    Poor safety standards worry builders

    Worried by the poor safety and health standards in the construction sector, the Nigeria Institute of Building (NIOB) has urged the government to improve standards in the built environment.

    The institute said health and safety in the sector was at an abysmal level, urging the government to do more.

    Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Builders Lagos Chapter, Jelele Akinpelu, at a briefing to herald NIOB Lagos Chapter’s Annual General Meeting, slated for tomorrow, stressed that health and safety in the construction sector, the theme of its meeting, was chosen because of the low level in standards of safety and health in the sector.

    “The conformance level is low and we believe the Lagos State government’s recent initiative to launch a safety agency is very germane to standardising the sector. We are calling on government to pass the National Building Code to improve health and safety in the built environment as well as prevent building collapse.” Akinpelu added.

    Vice Chairman of the branch and Chairman of the AGM Planning Committee Asimiyu Bashir said the main objectives of this year’s conference were on health and safety management on construction sites; exploring the benefits to clients and other stakeholders; thinking safety and acting safety, among others.

    Bashir said “Health and safety should be every one’s concern as accident does not give notice, it just occurs.

    To dissect the topic, we have erudite resource persons to educate stake holders on the need to be more serious with health and safety precautions as the effect is costlier than preventing it. Most times, the victims are left helpless and hopeless.”

    Among the panel of discussants/ facilitators are Director-General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mrs Dominga Odebunmi; immediate past chairman NIA Lagos Chapter, Abimbola Ajayi; Associate Professor of Construction Management University of Jos, Dr. Yohana Izam and Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Projects Monitoring and Concessioning Ogun State, Engr. Tokunbo Odebunmi.

    Others are General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr. Femi Osanyintolu and  Principal Partner of  Spectroplan Limited, a firm of Consulting Town Planners, Mrs. Catherine Kehinde George.

    The programme will be held at  NECA House, Alausa, Plot 2A, Hakeem Balogun Street, CBD Ikeja under the chairmanship of  the Oyo State Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development, Bimbo Kolade.

  • Govt changes gear on Lagos-Ibadan road

    Govt changes gear on Lagos-Ibadan road

    The two weeks ultimatum it gave has since expired, but the Federal Government is yet to act on the concessioned Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. It is now promising to enforce the 25-year concession agreement with Bi-Courtney Highway Services (bchs) after the rainy season. Will it live up to its word? OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE asks

    AT the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum, the public expected the government to move in and do something about the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which was concessioned to Bi-Courtney Highway Services (BCHS) in 2009.

    But five weeks after the expiration of the ultimatum issued in Lagos on Friday by Works Minister Mike Enolememen, the government is shifting the goalpost.

    Onolememen told The Nation a few days ago that the government is mindful of the contract stipulations and wouldnot hesitate to enforce the agreement at the end of the rainy season.

    When he inpected the Third mainland Bridge, which is being rehabilitated, last month, Onolememen said the government would make its position known in “14 days on the way forward.” Over three years after the road was concessioned to Bi-Courtney, not much work has been done on it.

    He said: “The government is already engaging the concessionaire in a bid to find the way forward. There has been a series of meetings; the meetings will end next week after that, the way forward will be known.

    “What is important is that government is committed more than ever before to delivering that road and doing it quickly considering the economic potential of the road.”

    The expressway, which links Lagos with other parts of the country, is dilapidated, resulting in traffic snarl, waste of manhour and frequent accidents.

    A community leader in  Ibafo, Mr Olugboro Akinyemi, decried  the delay on the construction of the road, accusing the government of insincerity and lacking the political will to enforce the contract with the concessionaire.

    He wondered why the government seemed helpless in getting the job done if the contract was done in good faith. Akinyemi recounted commuters’ hardship on the road daily and the government’s lack of empathy. He dismissed the promise by the minister as a political statement.

    A resident of Magboro, Mrs Kelechi Ikem, who runs a primary school, lamented the toll on her business. Many parents, she said, now look for nearby schools for their children and wards as the road has become too bad to commute daily.

    She appealed to the government to enforce the contract to save the lives and resources of travellers and residents who use the road daily.

    Another resident in Arepo, Mr Ajayi Lukas, who works on Victoria Island, leaves home every day before 5am and does not get back before 11pm.

    He wondered  for how long he would do this and still be effective at work and home, appealing to the government  to make up its mind on what to do with the road in the interest of the public.

    He decried the penchant of Nigerians to play politics  with almost everything  imaginable and called on the Federal Government to come up with a definite road map on the Lagos/lbadan Expressway.

    The Nation checks revealed that the ministry is mindful of the legal implications of cancelling the concession agreement and is, therefore, taking its time to plug loopholes to save the government from possible litigation and long-drawn court battle.

    Another aspect to the issue is that some high level politics was ongoing on the concession as there is a divide between some government officials who want the status quo to remain and others canvassing the cancellation of the contract, to make room for a more competent contractor to handle the project to put the government in good light considering the critical position of the road in the economy and politics of the country.

    But a source said all depended on President Goodluck Jonathan as nobody seemed to know where his stand.

    The minister, while underscoring the government’s sincerity on not just the rehabilitation of the road, spoke of plans to ensure that most highways across the nation are in good condition. He said the launch of Project Safe Passage was geared towards ensuring that Nigerians are provided with good roads devoid of potholes to promote safe motoring and passage.

    On the strategy to deliver the project, Onolememen said government would ensure that contractors engaged by the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) recovered all sections of their road alignments that have failed.

    He said the project would be considered as a contingency for failed sections of road alignments across the country and that federal roads without subsisting contracts would be taken over by FERMA through its direct labour scheme for the implementation of the project.

    Onolememen said to empower contractors to deliver on the project, the Federal Ministry of Works had paid outstanding certificates on its projects to contractors within the limit of the 2012 Budget.

    He said though rehabilitation and reconstruction works had been stepped up on majority and about 11 road projects completed, many are still unhappy over the state of roads in the country.

    He urged contractors handling various projects on federal roads to submit their schedule of work for the safe passage programme within seven days.

    Onolememen added that contractors would be accountable to their approved programmes of work and contractors who fail would be sanctioned.

  • Expert tasks House on passage of PIB

    The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) if not passed into law soon, would translate into Nigeria wasting eight years of investment in the oil and gas industry.

    The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, International Energy Services Limited, Diran Fawibe who said this, called on the lawmakers to put in place strong measures to fast-track the passage of the bill.

    He called on President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Petroleum Resources to engage the leadership of the National Assembly into meaningful discussions to ensure quick passage of the bill

    While commending energy reporters on their efforts in bringing to the lime light the industry activities, he challenged reporters to do detailed analysis of the benefits derivable from the passage of the bill to the Nigerian oil and gas industry and to the nation’s economy.

    Expressing dissatisfaction over what he described as legislative protocols, Fawibe urged the National Assembly to pass the bill devoid of personal or political interest, saying overriding interest of the country should be paramount.

    He observed that a lot of investments had found their way out of Nigeria to other African continents including Angola as a result of non-passage of the bill.

    “A lot of investments that are meant for Nigeria go to other countries and Nigeria is no more in the position it was in the 1970’s when it was the only major producer in Africa. Now Angola appears to have overtaken Nigeria not in terms of labour of production but in terms of inflow of investment,” he said, adding that there are yet other countries in Africa that are discovering oil.

    He, however, expressed the hope that Nigeria would reclaim the loss as soon as the bill is passed into law. “Of course some stakeholders would be benefiting from the status quo, they gain while the country loses. If we don’t use our oil revenue judiciously to sustain our economy, get to the next level and make the vision 2020 aspiration credible, we need to aggressively look for foreign investment,” he added.

  • Firm to build 107,000 bpd refinery in Bayelsa

    Firm to build 107,000 bpd refinery in Bayelsa

    An indigenous company, EPIC Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Limited, said it had concluded arrangement to build a 107,000 barrel per day refinery in Bayelsa State, which is expected to be completed in 2014.

    The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Hon. Barango Matthew Wenka Jnr. stated this during a presentation on planned refinery to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Lagos.

    “EPIC Refinery and Petrochemical Industry Limited will be commissioned in 2014 by President Goodluck Jonathan if the DPR will issue us the operational license without delay,” Wenka stated after the presentation.

    The refinery, which will be sited in Oporoma Community in Bayelsa State, Wenka said, is purely a private business concern that has everything ready to make the project succeed despite failures of several firms that had been issued licenses to construct in the past.

    The Coordinator of EPIC refinery, Mr. Zakari Umar, an engineer, who also led the EPIC technical team, took the DPR team led by Olumide Adeleke, the Assistant Director, Pipelines, Plants and Installation and Joseph Odiong, Manager, Hydrocarbon Processing Plant, through the plant drawings, process description and flow schematics of the refinery.

    Presenting the technical details of the refinery and petrochemical plant, Umar said the construction of the refinery would be done in close collaboration with the DPR. Umar explained the design philosophy, technology, design development and components of the refinery complex as well as the construction, stock input and output (the yield), export options and modalities, power generation and social infrastructure of the refinery.

    Umar stated that what informed the choice of Oporoma as the site for the refinery is nearness to source of crude oil. He said the refinery complex, will be configured to process 107,000 barrels of crude oil per day (Bonny Light or low sulphur blends). He listed the process units of the refinery to include crude distillation, naphtha reformers, vacuum distillation and gasoil hydro-cracking units. Others include hydro-treating units for kerosene and diesel, residual fluid catalytic cracking and merox unit.

    He explained that out of the 107,000 barrels of crude feed per day, 4,287 barrels of fuel gas and 25,320 barrels of gasoline (petrol) will be produced. For kerosene, diesel and fuel oil, he said, 10,332 barrels, 38,714 barrels and 25,897 barrels of the products will be produced on daily basis.

    On the proposed market for the products, Umar said Nigeria and other West African countries as well as the United States and Europe would be the primary markets. He also told the DPR that the company would also build a power plant that would generate over 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity to power the refinery, adding that the excess of what would be required by the refinery would be wheeled into the national grid at a reasonable price.

    Adeleke promised the EPIC team of DPR’s support but stated that in time past, other promoters had come for presentations after which nothing happened. Reacting to the statement, the EPIC chief reassured DPR that the funds for the project is not a problem as HSBC had already pooled together about $30 billion required for it. All the bank is waiting for is the approval from DPR for it to start. He said the refinery, when completed would represent a monumental legacy in the transformation agenda of the administration of President Jonathan.

    Stressing the need for the construction of the refinery, Wenka said the downstream subsector of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry is under-invested. The sector he said, lacks adequate productive capacity, which accounts for the reason refined products are largely imported. The opportunities of profit and technology transfer are being lost to other developing countries, making petroleum products to be perennially in short supply with demand always high.

    In view of these, refining of crude oil is attractive to local and foreign investors and above all, government needs to extricate itself from the stronghold of products importation and subsidy scandal.

    He said EPIC is ready to commence work if the DPR issues it the license, adding that the company’s technical partner, the Sino Asian Energy (SAE) Group Limited has cutting edge technology and vast experience in the construction of refineries worldwide. The EPIC boss cited other projects undertaken by SAE Group to include the ultra-modern 348,000 barrel per day capacity refinery recently completed in Indonesia.

    He said that EPIC and SAE Group are in a joint venture. The SAE Group is to Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) the refinery to EPIC by 2016. According to the BOT schedule, the construction is to take 24 months while the operate period is to last for 48 months. The pre-start activities of site acquisition, surveys, assessment, compensation, clearing, fencing and similar issues had been sorted out already, he added.

    He also told the DPR that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed with the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, which has promised to fast-track the processes and incentives. The project will cost about $30 billion and would be fully funded by foreign financiers. He noted that there is a proof of funds made available by HSBC.

  • Oyo rebuilds Olosan Bridge to avert flooding

    APRRENTLY bracing for the predicted heavy downpour in its domain, the Oyo State government has rehabilitated the bridge across the popular Olosan River in Alakia Isebo, Egbeda Local Government Area.

    Oyo is the only state in the Soutwest listed by the Federal Ministry of the Environment to be affected by floods before the rainy seasons subsides this year.

    Olosan Bridge is notorious for being overflown by flood each time it rains with its attendant effect of cutting off 11 communities from the rest of the city.

    But the bridge is wearing a new look as its rehabilitation would soon be completed.

    Besides the comprehensive rehabilitation, the retaining walls have been raised and fortified with hardcore stones to withstand future hazards.

    Also undergoing rehabilitation by Messrs OAF & Associates Limited is the 13-kilometre road network within the communities.

    Mr. Tunde Okunade, an engineer an official of firm, said the road was being rehabilitated to give residents of the area a new lease of life.

    Okunade said since the bridge had been raised from a single-box culvert to a double-box culvert and with the standard drain and supportive access and cross culvert, the era of flood wrecking havoc on it and the entire road has become a thing of the past.

    According to him, the firmed enjoyed the cooperation of the communities for as long as the rehabilitation lasted. He assured that the road would not be wiped away by floods.

    The Chairman of Olosan/Alakia landlords Association Road Committee, Alhaji Isiaka Salami hailed the government for extending democratic dividends to their doorstep.

    He specifically thanked Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his Works Commissioner Alhaji Yunus Akintunde for hiring a reliable company to handle the project.

    Speaking in his capacity as the supervising officer of the community on the project, Salami said he could attest to the quality of work.

  • Banks commit $1b on vessel financing, says Nwapa

    Banks commit $1b on vessel financing, says Nwapa

    The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Ernest Nwapa has said that within the short period the board came on stream, Nigerian banks have committed over $1 billion into financing of oil and gas vessels.

    Nwapa criticised the rush of Nigerians into acquiring vessels indiscriminately or expanding their existing fleet without measuring the demand and specifications applicable in the industry. He noted that the positive side of the board’s decision to ensure that Nigerian vessels get jobs before foreign vessels, is that Nigerian banks have developed interest to fund such vessels.

    Nwapa spoke in Lagos at the christening of the DSV Arianna, a brand new vessel acquired by Broron Oil and Gas Limited through the General Manager, Capacity Building, NCDMB, Mr Omorode Oviasu, an engineer.

    He said there has been an unprecedented interest from Nigerian banks seeking to understand the opportunities and participate in marine vessel financing. Already, there is evidence that Nigerian banks have participated in funding over $1 billion assets in this short period.

    Nwapa, in his paper delivered at the event, said that the board is on course in achieving the target set for it in terms of retaining value in-country and creating jobs, among others.

    He said the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke had at the inauguration of the Governing Council of the Board by President Goodluck Jonathan on September 3, 2010, challenged the Board to within four years ensure retention of over $10 billion out of an average annual oil and gas industry expenditure of $20 billion in the Nigerian economy compared to the current sum of less than $4 billion.

    The board, he also said, was tasked to create of over 30,000 direct employment and training opportunities; consider the scale of activities to be domiciled in Nigeria; and establishment of three to four new pipe mills to service the demands of the industry and other ancillary manufacturing plants for coatings, valves, fittings and components.

    Others include development of one or two dockyards and increased utilisation of existing shipyards for maintaining marine vessels operating in Nigeria, which currently sail out for their maintenance and dry docking; transformation of ownership profile of marine assets supporting industry activity from a current ratio of 20 Nigerian-owned versus 280 foreign-owned vessels to a more equitable ratio of 180:120; integration of indigenes and businesses residing in the oil producing areas into the mainstream of industry economic activity; and capture of over 50 to 70 per cent of banking services, insurance risk placements, and legal services supporting industry activities and transactions.

    Nwapa noted that the structured implementation of the Act and strategic initiatives put in place by the Board around the minister’s medium term target is ensuring a total shift from the faulty perspective held by some persons in the industry regarding the capacity of Nigerians to acquire and manage costly and high tech equipment.

    He said: “The Board’s strategy on marine vessel utilisation is anchored around four pillars – vessel ownership by Nigerians, Nigerian manning of vessels, utilisation of Nigerian owned vessels by operators, expanding vessel maintenance capabilities and a programme to fit out topsides of larger marine vessels in Nigerian yards. These will lead up to the ultimate goal of full blown shipbuilding in the longer term.

    “Significant progress has been made such that today, 85 per cent of category 1 vessels in the records such as crew boats servicing major operating companies on regular contracts are owned by Nigerians. Similarly, the number of indigenously owned PSVs, AHTS and other Category 2 vessels working on regular contracts with operators is steadily on the rise.

    “Within the past one year, over 10 Category 2 marine vessels have been acquired by indigenous interests while feedback indicates that more than 20 more vessels are in various stages of procurement.

    “Working with the operators, we have been able to extract written commitments and identified a total of 49 category 2 vessels slots that will be given to indigenous vessel owners before the end of 2012. This exercise is ongoing and will ensure that a minimum of $3 billion is retained in the Nigerian economy.”

    He however, said this programme of the Board has thrown up fresh challenges, one of which is that many Nigerians have now rushed into acquiring vessels indiscriminately or growing existing fleet without measuring the demand and specifications applicable in the industry. Indigenous companies wishing to benefit from the opportunities must exercise diligence to ensure that vessels being procured meet the requirements.

    But on the positive side, Nwapa said that “there has been an unprecedented interest from Nigerian banks seeking to understand the opportunities and participate in marine vessel financing. Already, there is evidence that Nigerian banks have participated in funding over $1 billion assets in this short period.

    “It is therefore, imperative that assets procured by Nigerians in this way must be put to work so as to guarantee the viability of the investments. Anything less than this will not only kill the Nigerian companies, which are exposed to the loans but also threaten the local banks that funded the assets,” he added.

    He assured that the Federal Government through the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board will not permit a situation Nigerians that invest in marine vessels that meet set technical requirements stay without work while foreign owned vessels are engaged by the industry.

    “At the practical level, we must address the following issues if we are to make sustainable gains from this initiative: How do we ensure that the vessels are genuinely owned by Nigerians? How do we ensure that these vessels optimise employment for Nigerians and keep money earned in the Nigerian economy? How do we ensure that these vessels will continuously be maintained in Nigeria? How do we address the issue of temporary import permit so that it does not stifle vessel acquisition drive by Nigerians? Are the vessels insured by Nigerians?

    “In order to address these posers, the Board has requested all the indigenous vessel owners to upload their details onto the Nigerian Content Joint Qualification System. Having done this, we are now in the process of verifying the authenticity of these claims before further categorizing marine vessel owners in line with marine vessel strategy,” he added.

  • Surveyors seek systematic risk management in construction

    Surveyors seek systematic risk management in construction

    President of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) Mr Agele Alufohai, has renewed the call for a more systematic management of risks in the construction industry.

    Alufohai, who made the call in a paper he presented at the two-day international workshop on the theme Achieving enhanced value in construction projects delivery: The impact of appropriate risk management strategy, said that professionals in the construction industry, such as their counterparts in other industries with high risk exposure, need to have excellent ways of managing risks.

    He spoke on Risk in construction development: An overview of the concepts, principles and practice of risk management.

    He said professionals in construction business contend with financial and contractual risks, amongst others.

    The NIQS boss said contractual risks are basically those with flaws or problems with ‘contract documents, inappropriate documents or improper contractual relationships. These problems, he stated, can in turn lead to claims and disputes, disruption or even stoppage of work, delays and inflation in costs.

    Similarly, he added, financial risk influences the flow of money, pointing out that this could result from non-availability of funds when they are highly needed. Alufohai said financial risks are encountered not just in the Third World but also across the world.

    However, he emphasised that the problem extends to other issues in developing countries, such as lack of financial infrastructure making for lack of robust infrastructure when it is available.

    Other factors militating against smooth operation of the construction industry, he said, include climatic risks, design and construction risks, political risks, taxation regimes and tax incentives.

    He, however, acknowledged that some of those challenges do not pose serious threat in Nigeria, especially when one compares it to what prevails in countries such as the Gambia.

  • Local content: firm manufactures subsea equipment

    The local content policy got a boost with the unveiling of the first made in Nigeria Subsea Christmas Tree at the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone. The equipment was manufactured by Cameron Offshore Systems Nigeria.

    The event marked a major achievement in the drive for Nigerian content implementation as the Christmas Tree was designed in Nigeria; the frames fabricated at Globestar yard in Warri while critical value add activities such as radiography, painting, production of anodes were also procured within Nigeria.

    The Subsea Christmas Tree, which was manufactured for Total Usan’s subsea development project offshore Nigeria was assembled and tested at Cameron Base Onne.

    Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr. Ernest Nwapa, described the Christmas Tree as belonging to the top of technology ecosystem, adding that the accomplishment was a statement for the maturing of the Nigerian supply chain.

    He said the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act had started to achieve Federal Government’s aspiration of transforming the oil and gas sector from an importer of over 95 per cent of the industry needs a few years ago to one that manufactures inputs used in the industry and other sectors of the national economy.

    Nwapa also noted that the industry, which used to create millions of jobs in foreign economies had begun to generate jobs for Nigerians through the development of facilities in-country where work are being executed while indigenes of host communities were becoming active participants in the activities of the industry, thereby creating growth in knowledge, wealth and general wellbeing.

    He praised Intels Nigeria Limited-the management of the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone for the support it lent to the assembling of the Subsea Christmas Tree, noting that huge investments in infrastructure and facilities are being made in the zone to support the growth of work load the industry must place in Nigeria under the Nigerian Content Act.

    He expressed hope that new jobs would justify the investments and provide the impetus to replicate similar facilities in other parts of the country. He also said that the Equipment Components Manufacturing Initiative, which the Board started to implement recently, was receiving positive support from the industry.

    He said: “In the next 3-5 years, Nigeria will have over 25 globally recognised original equipment manufacturers making their equipment or major components here, either directly or using their Nigerian representatives.

    “From this segment alone, it is estimated that over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs can be created with a new industrial complex emerging from the exercise. Over 30 per cent of total procurement costs for manufactured equipment and spares will be spent in Nigeria.”

    Nwapa explained that the Board’s implementation efforts would be targeted towards ensuring the training of Nigerians to the highest international standards, supporting companies that set up facilities in Nigeria, working with the Nigerian Content Support Fund to drive down fund costs to local entrepreneurs and feeding work into the local industry being created.

    In his remarks, Nigerian Content Director, Cameron, Mr Sunny Nwankwo listed some of the key achievements recorded on the Tree build programme. He said: “Seven subsea injection Trees have been completed-one installed and six in storage. Four Trees are work in progress and at various completion stages. Four Nigerian welders have completed training and certification to ASME-IX international level.

    “In 2004 when we established Cameron Onne base, we occupied a mere industrial space of 10,000sqm, today it is 40,000sqm. Our staff strength was only about 50 Nigerians, today we are over 200 Nigerians with over $30 million investment in personnel development and infrastructure and tooling. We were in the past importing Christmas Trees, today we are building Subsea Trees.”

  • Minister, agencies sign performance pact

    Minister, agencies sign performance pact

    TO achieve results, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Musa Mohammed Sada, has signed a performance agreement with the Permanent, Secretary and heads of Parastatals in the ministry.

    He said the pact underlined the ministry’s resolve to offer better service to Nigerians.

    In a statement, the Deputy Director, Press, Marshal Gundu, said the Performance Contract is a mandate for the minerals and metals sector as well as every staff of the ministry

    The Minister said the minerals and metals sector has been identified as the key player for the diversification of the economy and the overall socio- economic development of the nation.

    “It is no more business as usual. We cannot afford to let Mr. President and the nation down, we shall all therefore be held accountable for the realisation of the targets set for us by Mr. President and we must contribute our quota to realise these objectives. If you do well, you get applause, if you do otherwise, you are called to order.”

    He said President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Performance Contract with all members of the Federal Executive Council in his determination to ensure high performance in terms of execution of government programmes for the benefit of the people of Nigeria.

  • ‘Landscaping of perimeter areas now compulsory’

    ‘Landscaping of perimeter areas now compulsory’

    IT is now an offence for property owners and occupiers not to landscape and beautify the perimeter areas of such houses, according to a law posted by the Lagos State House of Assembly.

    TheLagos State Parks and Gardens Agency Act is the outcome of a bill initiated by Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    At the handing over of the agency to its management team in Alausa, Ikeja, Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello said the law was part the state’s effort to meet its environmental challenges in line with global international best practice.

    About 128 landscaped gardens and 14 gardens were handed over to the management of LASPARK, headed by Olukunle David-Sotade.

    Bello said his ministry was positioned for policy promulgation and not implementation, which puts it in the best position to deliver on its mandate.

    The commissioner, however, stressed that adequate public enlightenment would be embarked on before full enforcement of the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Law No. 13, of 2011.

    ”It is now mandatory for tenement owners and occupiers to landscape and beautify the perimeter areas of their property. Violation of this shall warrant the penalty of N250,000 or such sums as the state shall incur in doing same on behalf of the tenement, or six-month imprisonment or other non-custodial sentence.

    “The law stipulates a fine not exceeding N50,000 or one year imprisonment or other non-custodial sentences for any person or corporate body found felling or trimming trees in the state without obtaining the required permit from LASPARK,” Bello said.

    He said state agencies numbering about 89 will help the ministries to formulate proper policies and carry out their oversight functions more effectively.

    Also prohibited are walking on lawns/gardens, spitting, urinating or defecating in parks, gardens or open spaces, and loitering in any park, among others.

    Some of the functions of LASPARK, according to him, are administering, maintaining and managing designated parks and gardens. The agency is also expected to charge appropriate fees for the use of facilities provided where necessary, carry out the directives and policies of the government in respect of the development, maintenance and management of parks, recreation centres, gardens, playing grounds and open spaces, and promote afforestation, among others.

    David-Sotade promised to improve on the work already done on the parks and gardens across the state, even as he sought the cooperation of Lagosians to enable him and his team deliver on the job and its responsibilities.

    He said the idea is to collaborate with all sectors of the economy by aligning the agency’s corporate goals with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) on the environment and the economy.