The Lagos State Government has announced the termination of an agreement between them and Messers Bridgeways Global Projects Limited over the much-publicised Kantagua Market.
An earlier report revealed that the Lagos Government has planned the movement of the Computer Village in Ikeja to Kantagua.
According to The Nation, the timeline for the planned movement was truncated two years ago with the termination of the Concessionaire, who, did not keep to the terms of the contract and continued to forcefully collect tolls and other spurious fees from the few traders located there.
The market was designed as an IT hub with state-of-the-art buildings and other infrastructure befitting the status of the market.
Recently, the government beamed its searchlight on the much-touted ICT International market in Katagua and sacked the Concessionaire, on the ground that it deviated from the contract.
Special Adviser to Governor Sanwo-Olu on E-GIS and Planning matters, Dr Olajide Babatunde over the weekend said the government has taken over the market and would build it to International standards with Hotels and other infrastructure that befits an lCT hub.
He accused the Concessionaire of building sub-standard structures and also went ahead to charge each trader the sum of N12 million for a stall and some less without the knowledge of the government.
He promised the traders that the government will refund monies illegally collected from them while for others their monies would be built into the new structures designed by government and taken as their seed deposit.
In his remarks, the General Manager of Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Gbolahan Oki asked for the cooperation of the traders and requested that they bring any paper or receipt suggesting that they have a stake in the market adding that their investment will not be lost as the government has fully taken over the market.
He said: “Henceforth the market should be clean depicting the status of an international market. The government will pay compensation to any person or Group with any claim. The world-class market the state government have in mind is for it to be self–sustaining, neat with competitive infrastructure unfortunately it’s nothing close to what we have now”, he added.
Also, the Chairman of the State House of Assembly Committee on Physical Planning and Urban Development, Hon Ogunkelu Sylvester who led other members of the State House of Assembly on a fact-finding mission, said they are in the market on the directives of the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa in reaction to a petition written by the Leaders of the Market Association. He noted that their findings will be delivered to the speaker for further action.
He added the State Government has already started identifying those who have a stake in the market and how.
He assured that nobody will lose their money but added that they must cooperate with the government by filling out the forms truthfully and receipts of payment where necessary.
