Lagos Parking Authority clarifies rumour on parking levies, decries indiscriminate parking
Ayodele Olalere
The Lagos Parking Authority (LASPA) has clarified its recent levies on parking space on commercial setbacks, saying the agency is authorised to levy commercial setback users for using government space.
According to the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, at a briefing on Wednesday, the levies being charged by the agency are legal and not for extortion.
It is recalled that a post had circulated on social media, stating that the agency issued a letter signed by its General Manager, levying a Lekki-based company a total sum of N290,000 for the parking lot outside their premises.
The Commissioner noted that the agency had the power to collect charges, adding it was created to find lasting solutions to the issues of indiscriminate and illegal parking across the state.
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He said the charges would help to reduce gridlocks on Lagos roads as a result of illegal parkings and urged Lagosians to cooperate with the agency and other similar stakeholders.
He attributed the uproar the Lekki incident has generated to political mischief by some people whom he said are capitalising on the political season to misinterpret the motive behind the charges.
“As it is usually the case, especially in a political season, political jobbers and people with limited knowledge on the constitutional mandates of LASPA have tried fruitlessly to exaggerate the issue by playing to the gallery.
“LASPA was created to find lasting solutions to the issues of indiscriminate and illegal parking across the state. This will aid prompt reduction of traffic gridlock experienced by everyone. We, thus, enjoin Lagosians to cooperate with the agency and other similar stakeholders in carrying out its laudable mandate,” he said.
He said the government is making efforts to ensure money generated through parking charges by private commercial parks comes into the coffers of the government which can be used to develop infrastructure in the state.
Oladeinde further said that most private commercial parks in Lagos charge between N500 to N1,000 per hour which sometimes amount to N4,000 daily, and N1,460,000 per annum depending on the number of times such individuals make use of the park. This , he said, is higher than the annual N80,000 being charged by the government which amounts to N219 a day.
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He assured Lagosians that the government ”will never resort to any unconstitutional means in its dealing with the people.”
On residential parking space, the General Manager, LASPA, Mrs Adebisi Adelabu lamented that “most Lagosians don’t have residential parking space’ but said the government had chosen to try and mitigate non-residential parking.
“It is not just unfair to the government but also unfair to the residents of the state as people do not make provision for parking spaces,” she lamented.
On event centers and religious organisations not providing parking space for their customers and worshippers, she said meetings had been held with bodies such as the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and Association of Hotel Owners, to ensure they provide parking space.
“If you want to build a mega church, you provide mega parking space. We are in a capitalist society, you can’t make money to the detriment of the government and the people.”
