PROPERTY NEWS

The failure of the Lekki Peninsula Scheme II to attract swift development 16 years after it was created has been a source of worry to the Lagos State Government and subscribers, who were allocated plots in the prime scheme. The scheme was meant to be an extension of the popular Lekki Peninsula Residential Scheme I.

Fear of possible revocation of the right of occupancy to the plots had gripped most of the allottees following consistent government prompting for them to move to the site and commence development.

Pointing to similar lines of action in Lekki Residential Scheme I and Magodo GRA, where the government had revoked the Certificates-of-Occupancy of undeveloped plots of land, the allottees had taken the various government notices seriously.

But our correspondent gathered that they had been hampered by the marshy terrain of Lekki II, which had prevented over 90 per cent of the subscribers from building there.

At a stakeholders‘ forum convened by the government earlier in the month, indications had emerged that the worrying state of affairs might soon give way to unprecedented development in the highbrow enclave, located around the Sangotedo area, of the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

Part of the resolutions reached at the forum was the resolve of the allottees to partner government on sand-filling their swampy plots so that they could commence developments as soon as practicable.

The allottees, especially those whose plots fell within blocks 37, 38 and 39, had complained of inadequate funds to reclaim their plots, which needed massive sand-filling before they could erect any structure there.

Based on the popularity of the earlier Lekki Peninsula Residential Scheme I, real estate savvy investors had immediately subscribed to the new scheme, which had over 2,000 residential.

But their hopes of immediate development was dashed when they realised that the area was water logged and that the relevant government agencies were initially reluctant to provide the necessary infrastructure.

Speaking at the forum, the Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Mr. Gbenga Ashafa, said that the meeting was the initiatives of the newly appointed General Manager of the New Towns Development Authority, Dr. Adeyemi Isiba.

He said Governor Babatunde Fashola had welcomed the idea of convening the meeting and advised that a democratic approach be adopted on the issue with the government collaborating with the allottees and seeking their opinion rather than imposing any decision on them.

According to Ashafa, the Fashola administration has reiterated its commitment to finding solutions to the problems that have posed a threat to the realisation of its various programmes, especially in the area of development of residential schemes.

He urged the allottees to interact freely and come up with different ideas to solve the problem of slow development of Lekki Peninsula Scheme II.

Isiba said that he had visited the scheme and was highly disappointed by the level of development that had taken place so far, noting that the infrastructure already provided was deteriorating at an alarming rate due to the inability of subscribers to take possession.

He said that the reality of the scheme was that the allottees needed to raise the street and floor levels by about one metre by sand-filling their plots in order not to encounter flood problems.

He, however, said that the issue had been looked into from an engineering point of view and it was concluded that joint sand filling by both parties would be the best solution.

The statement quoted some of the allottees, Mr. Olatunbosun Oke, Mrs. Atotileto and Miss Ayo Ajose-Adeogun, as commending the idea of the forum and expressing their support for the joint sand filling proposal.

Other stakeholders present at the forum also supported the idea and commended the government for using a democratic approach to handle the problem instead of unilaterally imposing unrealistic conditions and fees on them.