Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Controversy trails construction of Onikan multi-storey car park  

By Bertram Nwannekanma
31 October 2016   |   4:25 am
Two years after, the Lagos State government commenced the construction of a seventh floor ultra modern car parking facility at Onikan, the completion date for the project ...
Onikan car park under construction

Onikan car park under construction

Two years after, the Lagos State government commenced the construction of a seventh floor ultra modern car parking facility at Onikan, the completion date for the project has been surrounded with uncertainty.

The uncertainty was compounded with the recent commencement of another multi-storey car park on Campbell Street, Lagos Island.

The new car park was schedule to be completed within 18 months, with expectation to accommodate 400 cars on five floors with a 1, 000 seating capacity event hall, on the sixth floor.

According to the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Overseas Affairs and Investment, Prof. Ademola Abass, the car park would help to reduce traffic congestion in central Lagos. The project, he stressed is a joint venture between Ibile Holdings and Willao Nigeria Limited with Kaiser as the contractor.

For the Managing Director of Ibile Holdings, Mr. Biodun Amokomowo, the project will reduce traffic caused by lack of organised car parks being, first of its kind in Lagos Central Business District (CDB).

Speaking further, Managing Director of Willao Nigeria Limited, Mr. Femi Williams, disclosed that the state government some months ago, consulted the company to develop the car park.

But The Guardian learnt that the Onikan multi million naira project initiated by the Babatunde Fashola’s administration through the state‘s Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to address parking problems in Onikan and environs is remained stalked, as a result of paucity of funds.

The project has DKR Associates as construction managements and architects, while Bolaji Ipaye and Partners are the engineering consultants; Trevi Foundations as sub contractors.

Sources said, works at the Onikan car park have stopped for months due to   financial reasons.

The source said the state government is yet to fulfill some contractual obligations to the contractors.

Confirming this development, a source in the state’s Ministry of works and Infrastructure, said there are some challenges, which slowed down the pace of works in the facility.

The source, who could not however, disclose when the project will be concluded. He hinted that these challenges are being worked on, promising that the contractors would soon return to site.

Explaining the relevant of the car park facility despite the new ones being constructed within the vicinity, the source said, such facilities would continue to be in demand considering the nature of Onikan and its environs.

At the commencement of the Onikan project, a former Commissioner, Obafemi Hamzat had during the 2014 ministerial press briefing in Alausa, said the facility would accommodate 700 vehicles at a time.  According to him, the facility would have an administrative complex to make the administration of the facility easier.

He said: “The mega city status of Lagos confers on it the need to manage its challenges. One of such is the issue of parking space.

“Within the Lagos Central Business District, there are varieties of parking places that invoke the semblance of an unplanned city. To address the issue, the car park facility building was conceived,” he has said.

Hamzat also assured that   the project would be managed by the private sector.  Also his successor, Ganiyu Johnson at the 2016 ministerial briefing at Alausa, Lagos, showcased the 7th floor ultra modern car park as one of the numerous projects embarked by the ministry.

The project adapted to the shape of a triangle, he said, has a capacity to accommodate 384 cars on six suspended floors with offices for ticketing and rest rooms on each floor.

The commissioner further stressed that the facility was proposed as a mixed use of multi-purpose space consisting of two banquet halls, one of which will serve as an auditorium with a capacity for 800 people and the other for which is for ceremonial use, can seat 600 people.

0 Comments