The Lagos State Government said it had adopted measures against skyrocketing prices of building materials, to ensure all contractors returned to site for speedy completion of ongoing projects.
The state’s Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, who disclosed this recently during a facility tour of three estates under construction in Eti-Osa Local Government of the state, said the measures such would enhance its desire for affordable housing delivery.
Akinderu-Fatai, who decried the slow pace of construction due to price fluctuations, said issues of the price fluctuations due to forex and the rising cost of building materials would be resolved at the meeting with contractors and the governor.
Akinderu-Fatai said only 3,500 housing units had been delivered out of the government’s 7,000 planned targets, hence the tour towards resolving all challenges slowing down construction works.
He listed challenges slowing down the pace of work on the sites including infrastructure like roads and, a higher rate of foreign exchange for building materials and manpower.
The commissioner gave the assurance that work would continue earnestly in all estates very soon and more would be added to meet up the thousands of units promised by the governor for Lagos residents at affordable prices.
He promised that by May 2024, during Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s first anniversary in his second term, several more schemes would be inaugurated.
Akinderu-Fatai said high quality standards were being upheld to avoid mistakes of the past where some buildings constructed before Sanwo-Olu’s administration were sinking and had to be rebuilt, citing Abraham Adesanya Estate as an example.
He said a meeting had been scheduled with the various contractors to allow price variation for serious contractors and to terminate the contract of the unserious ones that were not committed to meeting construction timelines.
“We have housing units that we specifically target to the low-income earners and Mr Governor, if you recall, has always made sure that we bring down those prices. Certain housing units are for commercial purposes. Ministry of Housing deliberately, under the directive of Mr Governor, concentrate on low-income earners,” he said.
He said the housing schemes were not targeted at profit but to deliver affordable mass housing, adding that measures were in place to prevent middlemen from hijacking opportunities for residents.
