Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola has said an initiative for a stable power supply on the Lagos Island Central Business District (CBD) is underway.
The governor spoke yesterday at a Strategic Partnership Meeting with chief executives of companies in the district, at the State House, in Marina, Lagos.
Fashola said the government had a master-plan for the CBD, to be achieved within a year.
He said: “Through our existing power infrastructure, we have shown that a pilot can work. It is working and it is not just serving public places. It serves churches and other private institutions.
“There is a plan to provide gas on the Island and when this takes off, we will be ready, in less than a year, to provide the power that the CBD needs because we have an audit of the district’s power demand.
“Though we do not control gas, there is positive move that gas will come to the Island sometime, either by the end of this year or early next year, so we are thinking ahead and making the design.”
Responding to security issues raised by the Chairman of the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), Mustapha Chike Obi, Fashola urged the investors to come up with ways to engage “area boys”, who he said caused security breaches.
He said: “We can choose to pretend that it is not our problem, but the reality is that they are reflections of our economic situation and the earlier we understand that they are part of our environment, the better.
“If we develop the CBD, we can get them busy. If we return the night-life, they can work in clubs and can be used in traffic control and security. I made use of these boys in our green project across the state and they have demonstrated that they can work, if given the opportunity.”
On the Eko Atlantic City project, the governor said it had prevented flooding.
He described criticisms that the project was responsible for previous flooding as unfair, saying the problem was a consequence of global warming.
Eko Atlantic City is a 10,000-sq metre proposed settlement on the Atlantic Ocean.
About 1,200 high rise buildings are planned for the project and over 400,000 people are projected to live and work there on completion.
Fashola said: “It is not true that any flooding in the state is attributable to the Eko Atlantic City project. We have taken the best advice and professionalism has been deployed into salvaging those parts of Lagos consumed by ocean surge.
“To know whether the project is working, let us cast our mind to about 15 years ago when, at the peak of the rainy season, the flooding used to get to the Law School and NTA on Victoria Island. We have not had that kind of flooding in the last five to six years, even at the peak of rainfall. That means the solution is working. Whether it would solve the problem permanently, I do not know, but for now, it is working.”
Special Adviser to the Governor on CBD Mrs. Derin Disu urged business owners in the district to take advantage of the opportunities in the areas.
She said CCTV cameras had been installed in the area to tighten security.
Chairman of HoneyWell Group Chief Oba Otudeko lauded the government’s efforts to develop the economy and make Lagos the business hub of Africa.
