Lagos Assembly inagurates committee to investigate land reclamation

The Lagos State House of Assembly has inaugurated a nine-man ad-hoc committee to investigate the land reclamation going on in Park-View Estate, in Ikoyi of the state.

The House made this known at a plenary on Thursday, sequel to an issue brought under ‘Matters of Urgent Public Importance’ raised by Mr Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti-Osa II).

The Speaker, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, named Yishawu as the Committee Chairman, while other members are Mr Kehinde Joseph, Mr Temitope Adewale, Mr Nureni Akinsanya, Mr Ladi Ajomale, Mr Sylvester Ogunkelu, Mr Sanni Okanlawan, Mr Jubril Abdulkareem and Mr Olukayode Ogundipe.

Yishawu had earlier explained that the land reclamation exercise had been causing flooding and traffic congestion around the Park View Estate, Ikoyi.

He said: “The complaint received is from residents on these roads in Park View Estate that massive land reclamation is on-going at drainage outfalls of the estate into the Lagos Lagoon.

“The implication of this is that storm water flowing all the way from Gerrard Road, through the estate, and water from 85 per cent of the estate will be constricted on its way to the Lagos Lagoon.

“This is inevitably leading to massive flooding of their properties and a good portion of Park View Estate during already predicted rainfalls.

“The land being reclaimed is also the buffer zone for storm water coming from the estate. Park View Estate has experienced devastating flooding in the past while some residents had to reconstruct their houses.”

Yishawu said traffic in and out of the estate on to Gerrard Road (which is currently the only exit) had become a major challenge and would become chaotic with the introduction of additional dwellings that the massive land reclamation would bring into the estate.

He said he had visited the estate and observed that another recent land reclamation had also occurred at the Banana Island Estate side of the Lagos Lagoon.

According to him, this has further narrowed the storm water buffer zone in the area and a building under construction collapsed around the reclamation a few months back.

Yishawu said an online search revealed that this ongoing land reclamation in Park View Estate was already advertised for sale to the general public.

In their contributions, members of the House proposed a committee to further investigate the complaint.