Alausa Alert January 2014

LASRRA REGISTERS ONE MILLION LAGOSIANS T he State Government, in realization of its - kunle adesina objective to register residents for planning purposes, has so far registered over one million any other consideration, had been visiting its registration Lagosians in the on – going registration exercise. centres to get captured. The Lagos State Residents Registration Agency It also stated that successes recorded so far were made (LASRRA), which is undertaking the project on behalf of possible as a result of the cooperation of Lagosians who government in its over 200 registration centres spread have shown interest in being part of the exercise. across the state, said Lagosians from all walks of life, irrespective of religion, place or state of origin, age or The agency, which was established by law to provide reliable data for efficient planning and proper allocation of resources in the state, also commended government for adequate provision of logistics in the form of hi tech equipment, in addition to funds and continuous training of its manpower. Staff were equally commended for their commitment and hard work round the clock towards ensuring that total success was recorded. Continued on Page 6 Vol. 9, No 1, January 2014 Lagos Ranks High In Economic Rating ...Positions To Meet Debt Obligation - adetoro oladapo T he various economic reforms and prudent management structures instituted by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRF) administration are yielding positive results as adjudged by local and international agencies which gave the state high economic rating and portray it as a buoyant and stable economy with lots of positive yields for investments. The local and international agencies scored the state alongside other economies and gave it kudos for being the only sub-sovereign economy to achieve the feat. Finance Commissioner, Ayo Gbeleyi, who made this known at the Year 2014 Budget Analysis, stated that the state is sustainable and able to meet its debt obligation because the benchmark adopted by the Federal Government's Debt Management Office is 40 per cent, while the state is operating well below the benchmark. Recently Commissioned Ejigbo-Ajao Estate Link Bridge and road network in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area. INSET: Gov. Babatunde Fashola unveiling the plaque to commission the road. According to him, Fitch rating, a renowned global rating agency, puts its Outlook revision on Lagos States' National Long-term rating to positive from stable and subsequently affirmed it at `AA(nga)'. LASG Delivers More Life Transforming Infrastructural Projects T he state's infrastructural development agenda continued unabated with the completion and handing over of diverse projects which have been adding value to the lives of the people. Giving an insight into government's experience in the course of the project, Governor Fashola described the Alaba/ Cemetery road as a very difficult road to construct because it was filled with refuse and the contractors had to dig over 1.5m of the dirt to excavate refuse before totally For the past month, Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) replacing it with fresh soil. He therefore called for a more and his team have crisscrossed the state, handing over caring attitude of public infrastructure, as the road was completed projects to communities and undertaken inspection visits to ascertain the state of others. One of these was the handing over of the 2.68km Alaba/Cemetery modern road in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state to the community. While handing over the project, Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) continued his campaign of dissuading residents from converting walkways to stalls, in order to ensure the safety of school children. He said children would use the walkways for safety when going to school but when they have been converted to stalls, they would endanger the lives of the children who would be pushed to making use of the road. He described the road as a collective asset for both vehicle owners and those yet to own such, hence both must take proper care of the road. He noted that the completion of the road was in fulfilment of his promise to complete over 200 inner city roads which are in various stages of completion in the state, with many recently handed to their communities. Gbeleyi said the benchmark adopted by the state in 2013 was 13.15 per cent, while total public debt stock to GDP stood at 2.98 percent. “For a frontier economy like ours, the threshold that is allowed is about 20 percent. As at last year, the ratio of our debt to total revenue was 112. That is the total debt stock at the percentage of revenue. That is 112 percent compared to the benchmark. ``The benchmark allows us to borrow up to 250 percent of our total revenue. Again, we are well within that threshold. The last is also regulated by the Federal Ministry of Finance under the Fiscal Responsibility Act. We are allowed to borrow up to 50 percent of our last three year revenue,'' he stated. Continued on Page 4 FESTAC TOWN GETS MATERNAL AND CHILDCARE CENTRE - seyi akitoye F or residents of FESTAC town, it was jubilation galore, as government eased the burden of their pregnant women and children from going far in seeking maternal and paediatric care. Handing over the first of its kind Amuwo-Odofin Maternal and Childcare Centre in FESTAC Town, the sixth in the series, Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), appealed to residents to take full advantage of the facility at all times , instead of patronizing quacks. According to him, out of the ten of such centres planned for the state by his administration, six of them, namely; Ajegunle, Gbaja in Surulere, Ifako-Ijaiye, Isolo and Ikorodu, have been completed and are fully operational, including the Amuwo-Odofin MCC which opened for operation two mon