As part of ease of doing business in Lagos and boosting the state’s revenue, former Governor Babatunde Fashola has advised his successor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to reduce the cost of accessing building permits and address the bureaucracies surrounding it.
This is as Mr Sanwo-olu announced an extension of amnesty to owners and developers of existing buildings without planning approvals in the state to 31 December.
Speaking on Tuesday as the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the two-day Lagos Physical Planning Summit, Mr Fashola emphasised the need to improve the process of issuing development and building approvals.
He warned that delays in approvals can drive investors away, especially during periods of price volatility.
The summit is themed: “Rethinking Lagos: A New vision for a Regional and Integrated Mega City.”
Requests for building approvals
According to Mr Fashola, the state should review its processes for building approvals, noting that sustainable revenue should come from prompt approvals and the construction of assets, which he said can generate land use charges and other forms of revenues.
He called for the reduction of the number of agencies an applicant must go through, emphasising the need for a strategic ease of doing business initiative.
He said: “This is not to say the state should not generate revenues. In fact, it is to increase the revenues and make it sustainable because if the processes are costly and cumbersome, it can drive investors away. But if it is seamless and cheap and the assets are built, then the government can generate revenues consistently through land use charge, and other rates.”
Sanwo-Olu responds
In his remarks, Mr Sanwo-olu expressed gratitude to his predecessor and acknowledged the need for a streamlined approval process to attract investment.
Mr Sanwo-olu said “I want to assure you this is a responsive and responsible government. We take all the points, we take all the issues. Our commitment is to continue to ensure that the ease of doing business is improved upon.”
The governor said he was surprised that his predecessor raised the same issues he had raised with the officials when he entered the venue of the programme and noticed the long lists of agencies people must approach to secure permit before they can build in Lagos.
He said he inherited a culture that streamlines processes and that things cannot be different under his watch.
He highlighted that in the last six years, the Ministry of Physical Planning has delivered some of their master plans with most of them being in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation.
He said “Using their various master plans, we have had some of the major bridges and infrastructure, which includes the Agege flyover bridge, Apapa, Yaba, Mushin and Ikeja overpasses.
“So you can see that it’s not all bad cases for the town planners. Working with our transport experts, they’ve been able to recreate some of this investment as well, and on that trajectory as well, there is a plan for another Ikotun overpass.”
He added that climate change is real and that the state considers it in all decisions.
“We are not unaware of the effect of climate change, how we need to build resilience and capabilities to ensure that Lagos can absorb shock and can respond to issues of climate change when it does happen,” he said.
Potential of Lagos-Calabar highway
Mr Fashola encouraged the ministry to look at the potential of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway as a prolific tourist area and employment opportunities.
He said: “And now that the federal government has committed to building the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, I would like to know from the Lagos town planners what they envision for this corridor.
“That is our corridor of prosperity, if we position ourselves now. For me, it will be a prolific tourist area facing the Atlantic and backing the Lagoon depending on where you face.
“This can be a very great employment area where we optimise the benefits of those islands: Ilashe, Inagbe, Ilado, Iru to Epe.”
About summit
In his welcome address, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Oluyinka Olumide, noted that the summit is aimed at better positioning the state for investment as proposed in the Operative Development Plans (ODPs).
“It has brought experts in urban planning, resilience, development partnership, legal and policy analysis, risk management, project finance and governanece to explore options available for Implementation of the ODPs for sustainable development.
“Consequently, the maiden Lagos Physical Planning Summit will, over the next two days explore proposals in the ODPs for implementation, evaluate the level of implementation, and identify challenges of implementation, associated risks and challenges to accessing finance,” Mr Olumide said.
(Premium Times)
