The Lagos State Ministry of Housing has intensified monitoring of the physical and environmental conditions of Lagos State government-owned estates to identify infractions and ensure that issues capable of causing serious damage to infrastructure, aesthetics, and overall livability are promptly addressed.

The ministry, through the deployment, training, and provision of work tools to environmental health and monitoring officers, is ready to enhance its oversight of all government-owned estates to achieve a safe and sustainable environment.

The Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, stated this while inspecting vehicles provided for the Monitoring and Enforcement Unit of the ministry to boost monitoring of compliance with physical and environmental regulations in government estates.

He said, “The sustainability of all our estates is a task we take seriously, and the provision of these vehicles for the patrol of Lagos State Government estates is a deliberate action to prevent deterioration as a result of deliberate infractions by residents of government estates.”

He stated that the allottees of government estates are required to strictly adhere to physical planning laws and comply with all laws regarding safety and environmental sustainability.

He further reminded residents of government estates that the obligations of allottees are clearly stated in the letters of allocation and other subsequent documents shared afterwards, ensure total compliance to sustain the infrastructural values of the estates”.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing, Abdulhafis Toriola, explained that the vehicles are assigned to the Monitoring and Enforcement units to facilitate easier monitoring operations for the staff.

He noted that the ministry manages government estates distributed across the five divisions of the state, and the vehicles are intended to help enforcement personnel cover more ground in real time.

Lagos State Government has commissioned 23 housing estates in the last six years, and the Ministry has developed strategies to ensure the sustainability of all the state government housing estates spread across the five divisions of the State. These sustainability interventions include the appointment of facility managers to oversee the ongoing maintenance of the estates’ infrastructure in collaboration with residents. Other innovations include stakeholder engagement, public enlightenment, regular monitoring, and enforcement of rules within the estates.