FG to complete abandoned housing project in Ikorodu

Federal Government says it is working to resolve the challenges delaying the completion and delivery of its Igbogbo/Bayeku housing scheme in Ikorodu, Lagos.

Suleiman Zarma, minister of state for power, works and housing stated this while inspecting the Igbogbo/Bayeku prototype housing scheme.

Zarma said that the project was awarded in 2014 but was stalled due to demand for an upward review of the project sum by the contractors.

“The aim of this visit is to ascertain what is really happening on site from its managers. I have heard that the contractors are asking for an upward review of the contract sums,’’ he said.

He disclosed that the ministry was weighing the options and taking necessary steps to complete and allocate the houses to intending home owners.

He added that the ministry was also discussing with the Lagos State government on how the state could provide land for more housing estates for residents of the state.

“We are going to appeal to the governor of Lagos State and I think he will accede to our request. Once the properties are developed, anybody that is taking possession of any of the buildings will either be a Lagosian or a resident of Lagos. “So the economic benefits will come to Lagos State,’’ he said.

The minister assured that Federal Government’s houses were for all Nigerians both in the middle and low income earners from the formal and informal sectors of the economy. He explained that there were different packages to suit different income levels and cultures.

The federal controller, housing, Lagos, Kenneth Abuah, said that there were 12 blocks of two bedroom flats, electricity and water works for the prototype housing scheme.

The federal ministry of power, works and housing site coordinator, Peju Fatiye, said that the project was divided into the prototype, public private partnership (PPP) and site and services sections.

Fatiye explained that a portion of the PPP had been completed and was in the process of being taken over by the Federal Mortgage Bank.

She said that all the contracts were awarded in November 2014 but that the contractors abandoned the project due to insufficient funding, adding, however, that the electrification and water supply aspects of the project had been completed.

“It is our prayer that these building blocks will be completed so that these facilities can be put into use very soon,” she said.