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Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has given contractors handling the construction of 1,188-unit LagosHOMS in the Sangotedo area of the state up till the end of October 2021 to complete the project or have their contracts terminated.
Sanwo-Olu, who spoke on Friday when he inspected the housing project to assess the pace of construction work, mandated the contractors to finish up the 744 flats being developed in Scheme One of the housing project.
While expressing his displeasure over the slow pace of work on the project, he said erring contractors would be sanctioned if they failed to record progress in the next seven days, as the state government had fulfilled its financial obligations in the contract.
The project, sited on 16.9 hectares, took off in 2012 and was revived by the Sanwo-Olu administration, according to a statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, titled, ‘Sanwo-Olu Inspects 1,188-unit Sangotedo housing project, sets deadlines for commissioning’.
The statement added that the first scheme of the project has 62 blocks of 12 flats each, while the second scheme has 32 blocks of 444 flats.
The governor was quoted as saying, “We have come on an inspection of this massive construction site that is divided into two phases. The level of work on phase one is over 90 per cent, but this is not the same in the second phase. In the next six weeks, we will be handing over the 744 units in phase one of the project and all contractors working on it must complete their work.
“I commend all contractors that have worked tirelessly to push through; I understand this has been a very difficult project. We have been working day and night, trying to deliver the project. We want to be fair to every contractor and we appreciate those who have shown real resilience and commitment.
“I use this opportunity to give a stern warning to erring contractors slowing down the project. It doesn’t matter who you know; I am not going to tolerate this tardiness any longer. I will give you one week to scale up work on the project. If there is no appreciable improvement, not only are we going to terminate those erring contracts, we will also prosecute them.”
Sanwo-Olu further directed officials of the Ministry of Housing and Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to monitor the contractors and submit progress reports on the project as the report would determine whether the contractors would be considered by the for other projects.
The governor also set a nine-month deadline for the completion of the project’s Scheme Two and urged those handling the work to complete it before June, 2022.
“I have not come here to turn you away, but to make peace and restitution. For those contractors still working, we will wait for another four more weeks for extensive clean-up before we finally commission the project,” he added
