Besides, it was also discovered that where some investors have intention of putting on certain projects, due diligence that would ensure actualisation of quality works are usually absent.
Speaking on the backdrop of the recent announcement made by the Lagos State Ministry of Housing over the proposed partnership with a United States-based firm Business Development, Echostone, to build 2,000 houses, within the space of seven months, Dr. Johnson Okwudiri, a project consultant, based in Opebi, while assessing the claim, said not much was put into the public domain to know how feasible such claim can be actualised within the time frame.
“It’s gratifying to hear that 2,000 housing units would be provided in Lagos, by the President, Business Development, Ander Lindquist, of Echostone, United States, as widely reported, that the company would deliver 2,000 housing units in seven months.
“However, with this kind of declaration, it’s necessary for regulatory body such as Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) to get involve and asked how the feat would be achieved without compromising quality standard, he suggested”
According to him, land is not easy to come by in Lagos, and for any investor to sign a memorandum of understanding on such project must be subjected to scrutiny. “Reason for this is to ensure that some smart Alec don’t just come, take the land and turn the project into another failed enterprise, with all legal niceties becoming an albatross.
He believed that cases of promised projects that failed to see the light of the day abound in Nigeria, where officials gullibly entered into agreement that are not feasible.
Not limiting the case to Lagos alone, First Vice President, Nigerian Institute of Builders (NIOB), Mr. Kunle Awobodu, was also of the view that it’s so common that investors will just, out of voluntary intention, promised a project without professional backing or indepth knowledge of problems and challenges associated with such projects.
“How many contracts have been awarded by the federal and various state governments that fail to see the light of the day? This is just because most of them do not pass through the scrutiny of the relevant regulatory agencies.
“Besides, government officials who suppose to follow the due process fail to do so for one reason or the other and that is why many laudable projects fail to materialise”, said Awobodu, who believed that the proposed 2000 housing units by the Lagos State and it’s partner is achievable if certain things are in place.
It would be recalled that the Lagos State government, in November 2017, says it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a firm, Echostone Development Nigeria Limited, to build 2,000 housing units in three locations in the state.
A statement from the Lagos State Ministry of Housing on December 14, said the MoU, signed at the ministry’s office in Alausa, was well articulated.
According to reports, Commissioner for Housing, Gbolahan Lawal, explained that Echostone would use its money to deploy a new technology that would facilitate the construction of houses in record time, while the state government would provide land.
The Commissioner was quoted as saying that the company is expected to develop 2,000 housing units of two-bedroomed-bungalows in three locations, starting with 250 units at Idale in Badagry. It will move to Ayobo in Alimosho and later to Imota in Ikorodu for the development of the rest of the houses.”
His words: “Part of the government’s plan is to ensure that the Lagos Affordable Public Housing Initiative impacted on every part of the state, as we have planned to deliver 20,000 housing units within four years”.
In the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer, Echostone, United States, Anthony Recchia, said its new technology would enable the company to build a house within four days, adding that the company would deliver the first 250 units of houses in three months starting from February 2018.
and then