Minister says FG will work with state govts. on mass housing projects

Babatunde Fashola seems to be taking the interests of prospective residents of mass housing estates to heart.

Speaking at a recent inspection of road projects in Lagos state, the Minister of Power,Works and Housing said he was wiling to work with the state governments to ensure that residents are happy, Vanguard reports.

He said, “Our housing scheme has to pass through test and acceptability, to determine if the people like what we we have done and whether their locations are acceptable by the people. If it passes that test, the next step is that, can they afford it? Because even if they can afford it but we put it in a place they don’t like, they won’t live there."

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Moving on, the Minister added, “Every state understands the value of housing to its domestic economy. The dignity that it gives to its residents, the shelter, the sense of belonging that it gives them when it is finally done. Then the taxes that it generates for the state in terms of property tax and the employment it generates. In every state we construct residential estate, it is the residents of the state who get employed."

In an attempt to prove his point, Fashola referred to abandoned housing estates. According to him, these places have been abandoned because the people that the houses were built for did not like them.

“What is sauce for one state, is honey for the other. That is the diversity we talk about in terms of acceptability, and that is why we have to rethink our situation in Ekiti and the governor has said he will relocate us”, he added.

In Ekiti, the residents were unhappy with the location, the outskirts of the city. However, Oyo residents were reportedly happy to live in the same location.

Fashola makes a great point, don't you agree?