Stakeholder Laments Town Planning Policy Failure

• Stakeholder Laments Town Planning Policy Failure

The major bane of development in Lagos State remains the failure of government to enforce town planning laws, a professional in the built environment, Mr James Anifowose has said.

Anifowose, who is a resident of Lekki, said most of the problems in the state ranging from flooding to building collapse and even traffic congestion were as a result of lack of proper planning.

According to him, the fundamental issue remains that the government sets the rules and breaks them at will.

Using Lekki Phase 1 and Magodo Government Reserved Area as examples, he said there had been flagrant abuse of master plan by both the government and residents without any consideration for the consequences.

He said, “The problem of town planning in Lagos is greed, so why should we believe in the government when they say they are reviewing a master plan? There is no problem with the change of land use but it must be done with the consent of relevant stakeholders.

“As far back as the 1850s, Lagos was already an established city with electricity; it was the second city in the world to have electricity after Munich, Germany but how do you treat a city as old as that without responsibility and accountability? The state’s problem is social and one of the key fundamentals of social problems is governance.”

He explained that the gridlock which had become synonymous with living in Lagos was as a result of lack of futuristic planning.

Anifowose, who spoke as a concerned resident of the state, said the government owed the people a duty to as a matter of urgency open a public enquiry into the abuse of master plan in the state.

“We have a big social problem but the people do not even understand the dynamics; we are not even sure how many we are in the state, so how can the government plan?’ he asked.

He noted that Lekki’s status as a residential area had been bastardised due to a change in the original master plan, adding that the area had a specific plan for a Central Business District, a Northern Business District and residential area, but that every part of the community had been converted to commercial use.

According to him, the police station planned for Lekki Phase 1 has not been built and residents have no idea what has become of the plan as the designated area has been converted to residential use.

He said the new governor of the state, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, should intervene in the crisis as the New Town Development Authority had lost control.

“His intervention will have huge benefits for the state. Master plan is a future plan; if it fails the system will fail too. What is happening now in Lagos is as a result of planning failure,” he added.