Posted by By Kazeem Ugbodaga on
The Lagos state government is set to demolish thousands of houses located along the Lagos-Badagry expressway, to pave way for the expansion of the road to 10 lanes, and provision of a light rail mass transit.
The Lagos state government is set to demolish thousands of houses located along the Lagos-Badagry expressway, to pave way for the expansion of the road to 10 lanes, and provision of a light rail mass transit.
The state Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Francisco Abosede, confirmed this in Lagos, yesterday. He said owners of houses that fall on the right of way of the road have been asked to submit documents of their property in the area, since March 2008, adding that his ministry had received tons of documents in this regard.
Abosede disclosed that many people were still submitting documents to get compensation from the government. He revealed that after screening, those with genuine titles would be compensated and relocated by the state government, while those without genuine documents would be left to their fate.
'Right of way is right of way. More than one million people will encroach on a particular property, if there is no regulation. If you have a title document and approval, you have to submit such. Even people who don't have still submitted documents too.
'If those who have genuine documents are there, we will relocate them,' he said, adding that the state government was still contemplating where to relocate the people. Abosede stated that the state government had already mapped out the right of way for the project which would commence soon.
He explained that the state government was making adequate arrangement for compensation to be paid, and where to relocate the people displaced during the demolition exercise.
Abosede also disclosed that the state government had received $200 million from the World Bank as intervention fund to upgrade nine major slums in the state.
The slums include Agege, Ajegunle, Amukoko, Badia, Iwaya, Maroko, among others. He said the areas would be provided with social amenities to improve the standard of living of residents there.