Lagos residents in govt estates to pay maintenance charge, sinking fund to preserve housing schemes
The Lagos State Ministry of Housing has announced plans by the government to preserve and keep facilities in its various housing schemes attractive.
According to a statement on Sunday, 5 June, 2022, the state Commissioner for Housing, Mr Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, disclosed this while speaking during a recent review of the activities of the ministry.
Akinderu-Fatai said the plans will ensure that the facilities are kept attractive in line with the standards of a 21st-century economy.
He hinted at the state government’s plan to implement the payment of maintenance charges and also sinking funds which will ensure that there is the availability of money when it is time to upgrade the facilities of the newly delivered estates.
The commissioner said all estates completed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration will be periodically repainted from the sinking fund to enhance the value of the homes and ascertain that the quality of life is maintained.
“The maintenance charge and sinking fund will be contributed by the homeowners or residents on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis for the upkeep of the central sewage treatment plant, water treatment plant, green area beautification and repainting of faded externals to befit the Greater Lagos vision,” he said.
The commissioner expressed the state government’s commitment to the facility management plan while suggesting that resident associations and facility managers should be signatories to the bank accounts meant for the maintenance of the joint facilities in the estates.
Akinderu-Fatai, therefore, appealed to the residents’ associations of the estates and the facility managers to work in harmony towards the realisation of the set goals and objectives of the maintenance plan.
On his part, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Wasiu Akewusola, lamented that some homeowners in old estates such as Baba Omojola Estate in the Gbagada area are still defaulting on the payment of the purchase price of the homes.
He enjoined the defaulters to pay up their debts and not deprive others of the much-needed succour being provided by the state government in the area of housing.
