Mr.
Akinwunmi Ambode, Lagos State Governor, on Thursday February 18th, 2016, reiterated his
administration’s promise to ensure that the Blue Line of the Light Rail Scheme
is up and running by Dec. 2016.
Governor
Ambode, who spoke at the 5th Lagos Corporate Assembly, a forum
for public-private sector engagement held at the Banquet Hall of Lagos House,
Ikeja, while reacting to questions from captains of industries and members of
the Organised Private Sector (OPS), discredited assertions that work had terminated
on the first phase of the project connecting Mile 2 to CMS ,
saying the accusation was totally incorrect.
“The
truth is, you might not see the contractors but they are actually working on
the waters for now and by December this year, the project will start running.
So, work is seriously ongoing,” Governor Ambode assured.
He said
that government was also about concluding on the channelization of the
waterways in Lagos to improve on water transportation so as to encourage
investors and reduce the pressure on the road networks in the state.
He
assured members of the OPS as well as would-be investors that the state is more
than willing and ready to create an enabling environment for businesses to
thrive with the overall aim of improving on the socio-economic wellbeing of the
citizens.
The
Governor said as a government, he was ready to partner with existing and
would-be investors for industrial growth so far such investors are bringing
value to the state.
While
responding to issues raised by captains of industry and members of the
organized private sector at the forum tagged “A+ Meets Business”, Governor
Ambode said as part of measures aimed at encouraging investment, his
administration created the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund to give soft loans
to entrepreneurs just at three percent, while the Office of Overseas Affairs
and Investments otherwise known as Lagos Global, the Office of Civic
Engagement, as well as the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment
Generation were equally established, all in a bid to promote investment
opportunities.
He said
as part of measures to further improve on the creation of enabling environment
for businesses to thrive, his administration was also in the process of
establishing Lagos Micro Finance Bank, which would go a long way in providing
succor for business owners.
He said:
“As we
speak, we are in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on this and very
soon we shall come up with the Lagos Micro Finance Bank and this is another
effort geared towards the economic wellbeing of our people.”
Governor
Ambode said that the government was also in the process of transforming the
Kuramo beach into a World Trade Convention Centre, assuring that he was very
much committed to showcasing the economic potentials of the state to the rest
of the world.
Speaking
on the strategy to drastically reduce traffic in Apapa and make life
comfortable for people and businesses in the axis, Governor Ambode recalled the
security tour he recently embarked upon to Ishawo and Oke-Oko creek in the
suburb of Ikorodu where he met with military personnel carrying out the
“Operation Awatse”, a joint military operation of all the security agencies to
tackle the menace of pipeline vandalism in the Arepo axis.
“The idea
is that when we open up the area and construct the Ishawo-Oke-Oko creek road to
connect the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway from there, we would have greatly reduced
the traffic gridlock on the expressway and then finally put a stop to the
activities of pipeline vandals so that we can begin to directly pump petroleum
products from Atlas Cove in Apapa to Mosimi, and then the tankers will have no
business to come to Lagos to lift product,” Governor Ambode said.
The
Governor, who spoke on several issues affecting businesses in the state,
assured that he would work on perfecting a methodology for collection of rates,
and that he would soon come up with a grand plan to permanently tackle the
menace of touts.
On power,
Governor Ambode said between now and 2017, he had an agenda to create clusters
of Independent Power Projects (IPPs) across the state to improve on power
generation and ensure 24hours power supply in Lagos.
Earlier,
Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Prince Rotimi
Ogunleye, said the forum was a vehicle for government and private sector to
interact and discuss issues that are germane to the industrial growth of the
state.
He
assured the private sector that the Ambode-led government was poised to assist
the industrial sector to maximize its potentials for greater contribution to
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state.
In her
presentation, President of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Mrs.
Nike Akande commended Governor Ambode for programmes aimed at securing lives
and property and encouraging economic growth, but urged the Governor to
expedite action on the issuance of land titles, and also prevail on the Federal
Government to fix the rail system in Apapa and relocate Tank Farms in the axis.
Also,
Chairman of Apapa Branch of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN),
Folaranmi Odunayo commended Governor Ambode on the Light Up Lagos initiative,
and sought the inclusion of industrial areas in the project.
He also
advocated collaboration between the Federal Government, Lagos and Ogun States
in addressing the traffic gridlock and establishment of Building Code to
control erection of structures especially along the expressway.
There
were also presentations from the National Association of Small Scale
Industries, DFID, representatives of Dangote Refineries, Nigeria-America
Chamber of Commerce, Franco-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, African Women
Entrepreneurship Programme, among others.
SIGNED
HABIB
ARUNA
CHIEF
PRESS SECRETARY
No comments:
Post a Comment