WHat an irony! At a time when the Federal Government is collaborating with the Lagos State Government and key stakeholders to find lasting solutions to the bastardization of the master plan of Festac Town and the decay of its infrastructure, an unidentified developer has bought one of the few remaining open spaces in the Town.

DEPUTY Director, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr Godwin Eke, has said that illegal parking of trucks on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway is delaying reconstruction work on the road.

WHEN FESTAC town was built to host participants at the second Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in 1977 known as FESTAC 77, it was a model estate and was the first of its kind on the shores of Africa. For those who dwelt in Lagos then, it was a delight to come here and savour the paved streets, the flowers, the modern planning and the decent environment. How this estate degenerated to this parlous state is a subject that should continue to engage our interest as stakeholders’’.

HOUSING is universally accepted as the second most important human need after food. By virtue of the provisions of Section 16(1)(d) of the 1999 Constitution under the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, Nigeria is supposed “to provide suitable and adequate shelter for all Citizens’’.

Worried by the stoppage of work on the construction of the Ekemegbu Oha -Afor Uzoagba road which links Uratta in the Owerri North Local Government Area and Uzoagba in the Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, a socio-cultural group, Messrs Klobb X has appealed to the State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha to compel the contractor to return to site or re-award the contract to a more competent contractor.

ABUJA— FOLLOWING the dissolution of the entire board of the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, President Goodluck Jonathan has approved an interim management team under the supervision of the agency’s Technical Board.

Built environment professionals last week, decried the delay in processing building plans approval by the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development. They described the delay as the greatest obstacle to urban development in the state.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning, Mr Toyin Ayinde, weekend, laid the foundation stone to flag off the construction of a N5 billion shopping mall located within the expansive Golden Tullip Hotel complex in the Festac -Amuwo-Odofin axis.

Indigenous constructions companies in Nigeria have been warned to desist from recruiting foreign labourers as this is against the tenets of building local capacities.

As part of its urban renewal efforts, the Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project, LMDGP, has embarked on slum upgrading projects in Mushin, Itire and Ijeshatedo communities. The projects include upgrading of 30 roads and drains, provision of boreholes as well as upgrading of primary schools.

THERE is a raging controversy between Plycon Construction Company Ltd, an indigenous construction firm and residents over the delay in the reconstruction of Ipaja Ayobo road.

*Four down already
As relatives of those who died in the buildings which collapsed in Lagos last week, mourn the demise of their loved ones, there are fears that more rickety houses in the “Centre of Excellence” would take their turn sooner or later. This is because the Lagos landscape, especially the high density squalid neighbourhoods are littered with “coffins” which people live in as houses.

ABUJA: In a move to address the problem of housing deficit facing the nation, the Federal Government has asked Nigerians, especially those in the informal sector to form cooperatives societies so as to make it easier for them to access loans and houses.

As part of its efforts to reduce joblessness in the country, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA, said it would employ the services of 17,000 youths under the Subsidy Re-Investment Empowerment Programme, SURE-P who will ensure the continuous maintenance of Federal roads across the country.

In a bid to ensure transparency in the procurement of government-owned projects, the Federal Government signed the Public Procurement Act into law in 2007. The Act established the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP as the regulatory authority responsible for the monitoring and oversight of public procurement, harmonizing the existing government policies and practices by regulating, setting standards and developing the legal framework and professional capacity for public procurement in Nigeria.