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Business News of Monday, 16 November 2020

Source: punchng.com

LASG adopts sharing policy for 68 tank farms

Photo: The Punch Photo: The Punch

The Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development has said it will adopt the policy of cohabitation for about 68 tank farms in residential areas.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Idris Salako, during an interview with journalists, noted that the decision was reached after a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Relocation of Tank Farms.

He said with this, the tank farm owners and government could jointly provide every necessary social amenities and infrastructure that would make life meaningful for the communities within the environment.

Salako stated, “We are mindful that the operations of the tank farms are very critical to the economy of this country and to a large extent, dictate the business environment in the country.

“So we proposed to the committee and it was adopted that there should be cohabitation where those communities are properly planned.”

Speaking on gas plants, he reiterated that the ministry would not grant planning permit to gas plants in residential areas and would henceforth hold the policy tenaciously.

He added that the ministry had started a process in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Safety Commission to shut down some gas plants.

“Going forward, in the next six months, we are preparing action plans to take most of these places out. The ministry is preparing guidelines for gas plants and tank farms in the state,” Salako said.

On the issue of distress buildings, he noted that the pandemic and the EndSARS protests held up the demolition activities but added that the ministry would resume soon.

“We had approval to remove 110 buildings. We have removed 45 and the removal process is still ongoing,” the commissioner noted.

According to him, to further simplify the planning permit process, the government has implemented some reforms and set Service Level Agreement of 28 days for processing planning permit.

He said, “As part of the reforms, we have increased the number of supervisory directors and district officers and devolved planning permit approvals down to the level of district officers.”

He stated that the 28 days Service Level Agreement had become more feasible with applicants getting planning permits within the stipulated time, adding that as of October, 1,726 permits had been granted for the year.

The commissioner urged applicants to perfect their applications to avoid delays and to also take advantage of the electronic planning permit platform for ease of application.

He said applicants could take advantage of the fast track option for those who wished to quickly deliver on their projects.