Lagos state Governor babatunde Fashola says
the need to ensure infrastructural renewal and
economic development is the reason his
administration decided to borrow in order to
fund such projects.
Fashola also cleared the air on the uncertainty
concerning the criteria for the specified 200cc
motorcycle to ply Lagos roads as provided in the
state Road Traffic Law.
The governor spoke while on inspection with
members of the state Executive Council to
government’s projects in the Badagry area of the
state on Thursday.
He said his administration was investing huge
resources on infrastructure that would
determine the quality of not only the present, but
also the future generation.
He said the government could not fund the
massive projects in the state by the meagre
amount it gets from internally-generated
revenue, hence the need to seek bulk funds from
other sources.
Fashola said, “You know that IGR will only give
us about N300bn.
“We get requests from various communities for
roads and other infrastructure.
“When we quantified these requests it was about
N750bn, but we couldn’t generate such amount,
that’s why we scaled down the budget to N495bn
over and above what we can reasonably pursue.
“But we have aspirations and are able to take on
greater challenges and that, for me, is part of
governance, being audacious and being forward
thinking.”
The governor faulted those castigating his
government for its debt profile, saying that they
were ignorant of the facts and intentions of his
government.
He described them as ‘uninformed voodoo
economists’, saying the initial N50bn bond his
administration took had been paid.
“When we took the bond, many said we had
mortgaged the state for 50 years, but we have
paid that. The other that we took is due for
repayment; the amount in the consolidated debt
service account is about N62bn as of December
2012. The liability that we have is N50bn and is
not due until 2014, by which time the amount in
the debt service account will reduce.”
He said the alarm usually triggered by debt
profile should not be based on borrowing but by
the ability of such government to pay back,
saying the state had shown its capacity to pay
back funds borrowed.
On specification requirement for okada, Fashola
said, “When you have a 200cc motorcycle as your
own form of transport, not public transportation,
if you have that, you can ride on any road in
Lagos, you don’t need any permission and you
don’t need any exemption.
“If you are running courier business, once you
have a 200cc, you go to the motor registry, you
license it, get your plate number, just as you will
license any vehicle, that is all you need, at least
for Lagos State Government
www.punchng.com/news/lasg-borrows-to-fund-infrastructural-projects-fashola/