The motive of the current efforts by the Lagos State government to revise the existing Ikeja Model City Plan is to address infrastructural challenges in the city with a view to making it more sustainable, organised, liveable and investors friendly.
This was disclosed by the State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Abiola Anifowoshe at the public presentation of the final draft of the revised Masterplan to stakeholders and the public for necessary input, comments, and observations before implementation.
According to him, the state is determined to produce strategic master plans for the entire state as envisioned in the Lagos State Development Plan (2012-2025).
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Presently, eight out of the 12 new development plans proposed for the state, are operational. They include Lekki Comprehensive Master Plan, Badagry Master Plan, Ikoyi-Victoria Island Model City Plan, Ikeja Model City Plan, Apapa Model City Plan, Lagos Mainland Model City Plan, Alimosho Model City Plan and Agege Model City Plan.
The other three, which include; Epe, Ikorodu and Oshodi-Isolo Master/Model City Plans, are at different stages of completion. The Commissioner said that of Kosofe would commence later in the year.
Anifowoshe, an architect and town planner stressed that the review of the old plan was necessitated by contemporary physical planning challenges and the inability of the existing Ikeja MCP (2008 – 2018) to solve emerging planning problems.
He further described the master plan as the second amongst the Operative Development Plans to be reviewed after Ikoyi-Victoria Island Model City plan which was reviewed in 2015.
Also speaking the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mrs. Boladele Dapo-Thomas stressed that the proposed plan is at the public presentation level and open to inputs, comments, ideas and observations for incorporation into the on-going revision exercise
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She described the review as necessary and timely, saying “the existing Ikeja Model City Plan has been comprehensively evaluated and the challenges inherent therein have been meticulously studied, this review is necessitated by changes; hence, innovative recommendations subject to global best practices in contemporary planning concepts are adopted and contained in the report”.
For the Chairman Lagos State House Committee on Physical planning and Urban Development, Setonji David, there is need to review obsolete laws that are militating against development in the state.
Some of the proposals for the revised master plan include construction of a flyover bridge at Allen Avenue roundabout and twin water tower to provide additional two million gallons of water per day to service the projected population of over 7 million in ten years time.
Source: The Guardian
