Public Private Partnership, A Panacea To Housing Deficit In Nigeria- Fashola The Honourable Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN has reiterated the importance of synergy between the Federal Government and the Private sector in the built industry in the provision of mass housing to Nigerians. He said the Federal government must find a way to exploit the Private Sector participation in the industry especially in the area of local content manufacturing of building materials, noting that it would aid in the reduction of prices of the materials and subsequently the cost of the houses. He made this known during an inspection visit to some selected sites and Polysterene manufacturing company in Abuja. He said the visit was a follow up to the claims by some sponsors in the built industry during the Affordable Housing Summit held in Abuja earlier in the year that they had all the machineries to partner with the Federal Government in delivering affordable mass housing to Nigerians. The Minister who expressed satisfaction with what he saw on ground, noted that the concepts of acceptability and affordability were significant and must be factored into any system the Federal Government intends to adopt in the sector, adding that the low and middle income earners in Nigeria may not be interested in most of the houses available on ground at the moment, though beautiful and accepted but because they are mostly not affordable and said government was committed to initiate policies that would address the situation. At the Citec building and manufacturing factory in Mbora district, Abuja. The minister who was conducted round the factory by the Managing Director, Barrister Oluwadare Bello, inspected EPS Polystyerene, a building raw material made from petrochemical products and is being used to construct facials used in deckings for storey buildings. Other building materials included, wire mesh which acts as load bearing on the wall and sandwich for constructing portakabins. The company also manufactures doors and windows. The Minister said more companies using polystyerene would be encouraged as houses built with it are cheaper, noise proof, self fire extinguishing and does not need the use of air conditioners because it regulates the weather, adding that for the concept of acceptability and affordability to be meaningful to Nigerians, government must do its best to bring down the cost of owning a house. He said as part of efforts to assist Nigerians own houses with less burdens, the Federal Mortgage Bank has been repositioned to better perform its statutory function so that government on its part would concentrate more on ensuring the provision of acceptable housing designs. The Minister also visited building sites including: Braines and Hammers at Life Camp and Galadimawa, Sunny Vale at Logokoma and Rockvale at Gudu. He expressed satisfaction that Nigerian youths were being  engaged  at the sites in various trades such as masons, building sewage plants, iron mongering, and so on, noting that it has shown that the built sector is important in reducing the unemployment rate in the country. ...

Fashola Calls For The Harmonisation Of Existing Policies In Creating The National Transport Bill The Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, said there is need to factor in other existing government policies into the newly proposed National Transport Bill currently being considered by the Senate Joint Committee on Land Transport, Marine Transport and Aviation.  He made this call at a one- day Public Hearing on a bill for an Act to provide for the Establishment of the National Transport Commission as an Independent Multi-Model Economic Regulator for the Transport Industry and other Related Matters. The Minister commended the National Assembly by allowing officials of the ministries and other agencies of government to contribute in the decision making process of this important legislative draft bill for the entire benefit of the people and the nation at large. Fashola stated that, though he has not been privileged to other bills as its relate to the Ministry of Transport, adding that his intervention and that of the ministry will be more of  advisory, cautionary and demanding of  perhaps so much retrospection before making a final decision on the bill. Policy, according to the minister continues almost globally and they originate from ministries. "We must at this point ask ourselves what is the transport policy that we seek to implement?". He noted for example that government has a policy on safety which brought about the establishment of the Federal Road Safety Commission to implement its policy on safety. Also, government's policy on road maintenance led to the creation of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Similarly, its policy on housing brought about the establishment of the Federal Housing Authority, same in the Aviation sector and other sectors.  The minister called for retrospection in making a lasting policy that would make the transport industry a viable one, adding that for this to be achieved, there is need for the Senate committee to constitute a technical body to look into all the grey areas before passage of the bill into law. Earlier in his opening remarks, the chairman of the Senate Joint Committee on Land Transport, Marine Transport and Aviation, Sen. Olugbenga Asafa welcomed and thanked the special guests and other participants for honouring their invitation. He enjoined the sector professionals and stakeholders to cooperate with the committee as they solicit and galvanized more information on this important bill which is crucial to the transport industry. He however noted that the establishment of the National Transport Commission connotes an independent regulatory body in the transport sector. The Commission among others is to be responsible for the provision of transport policies, regulate the transport industry, protect the right and interest of service operators and commuters; and create an enabling environment for private sector participation in the provision of essential services in the transport sector. While declaring the one-day public hearing opened, the Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki who was represented by the Senate Leader, Sen. Ali Ndume welcomed participants and remarked that the essence of this one-day public hearing is to seek the most updated knowledge on information of matters before us. The Senate President said that, the Senate have identified the National Transport Bill among other bills that will help us develop our transport sector in a manner that would cut cost of doing business with efficiency and innovation. According to him, 'the bill when passed into law will provide the legal, regulatory and institutional basic necessity to interconnect, synchronized and share government policy in the entire spectrum of transport in the country from aviation to land and marine, adding that it will add enormous potentials to help our entrepreneurs to move goods and services much more efficient and reliably in a multi-model system'. The proposed bill for an act to create the National Transport Commission is being sponsored by Senator Andy Uba of the Senate Joint Committee on Land Transport, Marine Transport and Aviation. ...