The Lagos State Government on Thursday
said it had paid N740 million as outstanding compensation to communities
within the Lekki Free Zone and Lekki-Epe International Airport site.
The state’s Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Rotimi Ogunleye, disclosed this at a news conference in Ikeja.
He said the communities were that of Parcel B of the zone, comprising Yegunda and Abomiti zones.
“Before these parcels of land were
acquired, they were being used for farming mostly by various families
within those projects sites. With the acquisition, there is bound to be
compensation of the land-owning families after a comprehensive
enumeration and valuation,” Ogunleye said.
He said already, modalities were being
put in place to ensure hitch-free payment, adding that the payment would
be effected immediately.
He said that the government had
continued to engage the communities to convince them on the multiplier
effects of the project in terms of employment generation and the
socio-economic value on the lives of the people.
Ogunleye said the compensation was a
continuous process, adding that N65 million was paid early this year for
land owners affected by the ongoing Dangote projects in the zone.
He said before now, the host communities
of the 3,000 hectares of land housing the zone, a company jointly owned
by the state government and a consortium of Chinese investors, were
heavily compensated.
Ogunleye said that more land owners would be compensated in due course at the end of verification and valuation.
He assured both local and foreign
investors that all projects in the zone were fully on course and urged
more investors to come on board.
“Within the free zone corridor, the
government also conceptualised a deep seaport and an international
airport as complementary project that will leverage on the massive
production activities in the zone, with the added facilities for air and
sea transportation,” he said.
He said the land acquired for the airport was about 4,000 hectares, while that of the deep seaport was about 590 hectares.
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