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Vang u a rd. TU ES DA~ AUGUST 2,. 2 011
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HOMES & PROPERTY
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Developer unveils second Ikeja plaza
Climate change could kill one in 10 species - Report
flY JUDE NJO KU USIN ESS activities B in the Lagos S l ate capital, Ikeja, h as been boosted with the construction of a purpose- built commerdal complex by Me5lIrs IHL Propertie> limited TIle developer which is a subsidiary of Ibile Holdings Limited, the Investment agency of the Lagos state go vernment, , Is located on a primecomer-p;ece~cel. of land at t he me rge 0 1 Mobolaji Bank An th on y Way and Kodesoh S Ueet adjoining the IkeJa General Hospital otherwise called Ay;nl:e How ~ Managing Director of IHL Properties Limited, Mr Adeyl nka O nigbanjo explained thai the plaza was conceived 10 complement Ikeja Plaza I which w~ a1sodevelopedby Ibi le Holdings a nd managed by IHL Properties. Spedfically, Ikeja Plaza I Is a four-slorey commerciI\! 'uuilding with a penthouse, a bM:.kl.ng fioor and 94 officerJitessprcad on Ule remaireng three floors. " It Is in dese proximity with the alrpoll, and abou t 10minute drive from Murtala Mohl\mmed International AirportMMJA TIle plaza is bounded by the ~lIce Barracks on the right alld the Compute r Village a t the lear," Onlgbanjo said.
CLIMATE WATCH
Speaking on what prompted bi s com pany which is currently developing Platinum Rows Estate in Lekki and lWother461-uoIt!!1 Estate a l lyana路Oba. toventure into !he construction of the plaza. Onigbano said ..the objective Is 10 develop II. premi u m comme rcial property in the prime wbllll location 01 lkeja, which II the gateway of the sta te. The Idea i, to have a deveJopmen t tha t fuses simplicity, functionality, fl exibility and aesthetics". The plaza, accoating 10 him, has made provision for banking fa-
cHities, food court, reta il shopslmall and office suites. "Ikeja Plaza II Is designed as a purpose-built comtnelcia! complexon eight upper Ooors and three basement floors, all of wWcb is cov_ ered with a f1 llt roof. It Is developed on a 1Irm and weU-drained plotof approxim a te ly 4,300sqm. The ground lloor has .facilities for banking, reslamants and eatery a nd fl exible office shops on upper fl oors. There Is parking spaces for about 300 vehicles on three basemenl floors and adequate provision has been made In
Willy we can't fix roads now -
lhe design lor amenilies and services such as access, pas. senger and goods'llJts, elec路 tricity from public source a nd s tandby generators, wate r hom public source through undelgt"ound and oveme(ld tanks \vith treated borebole to supplement. TIlere is also provision for fireflghtlng e qu i pm e nt, refuse handling bay, circulation alld la ndscaping. There Is segregated Ingress and egre5ll forprope:r tralfic m a n agemen t a nd a ll of these areWTa ppedbyperimeter fendng," the lHL Properties boss said.
LSPWC boss
BY I{l NGSLE YA DEGBOYE by th e dev ' 111 TORR IED Wl' astaling e trects of recen t flooding on 100000ds the Lagos State Public Works Corpo.~ation has called on Lagosiens to be more alive to their role in keeping drainage channels flee 01 Wi!ste materials. TheCorporation also g:lVe reasons why it CAllIlot embark upon roads maintenance now. Executive a lalnnan of the Corporation. Mr. Gbenga Aklntola who spoke on the twin problems of flooding and deterlo riltion of road inhastnrcture occasioned by the torrential re.inlall being experienced presently In Lagos, said that his Agency had anticipated a rainy season that will pose greater challenge to road mamtenance activities due 10 unprecedented frequenC}' and volume of rainfall_ TIlis wa$ why the Corporation embarked 011 a full scale media advocacy ClIlIIpaign 10 sensltise residents and road users on bebollvloural changes requ iJed on their part 10 complement governme nt's effort in making Lagos roads motorable all year round. Describing the dumping of waste materials In drains 8!'l the loremost issue to be lIddtessed. Akint.,la stated that "it is painful tha t the consequences ol our pool was tedisposa).omd sanitation attitude has continued 10 cost government and the people several miUions of Nai ra due to flooding and road damage whlle Illso p05lng serious Uueats to life. 11 you take a lool-: at the flood whenever it ralliS, what you find are thousands of purewa l~r containers, used clothes, shoes, stationeries and all ,orts of domestic wastes which usually block the main,. pushing the water to road surface which eventually lend to pot-holetl and cratels, a nd Ihen you ask yourself how did these items find thl!i.rways inlomainll.ge laciUties," he lamented.. The LSPWS OOSS who described this Se.!50n
r UMATE change is s peed ing up the rate at '\.....which animals and pla nts are becoming extinct. By the end of the century, one in 10 species could be on the verg e of extinction because of the effects of 5Jlobal wanning, a stud y has fo und. The lindtngs s upport the view tha t the eartb is c unently experiencing ft global mass extinction whe re the rllte at which species a re being lost is many times greater than th e historical. extinction rate . It is the sixth grellt mass extinction in th e history o f life on earth . Scientists $ald that previous predictions of how fftst species are being lost bpcause of climate change match th e actual observed losses. They calcul ate tbat a ro und 10 per cent o f s p ecies alive today could be facing extinctio n b y :2"100. Uya Maclean and Robert Wilson, o f the Unive rsity of E:r!:ete r, examined nearly 200 previous predictions abou t bow climate change may affect the extinction o f species and compared the m with abo ut 130 reports of c banges aJready observed . Rising te mperatures, changing patterns of rainfaJ1 and increftsing acidity o f Ih e oceans are all having an im p ac t on th e via bility of vulnerabl e species. In the oceans, for i nstance, rlsi llg acidity th reatens the SUMV'" of the polyP orgllnisms th at make coral reefs while increasrng temperatu res a re sending s ome mo untain s pecies of plants and animals to h igher altitudes. "Our s tud y is a wake-up call fo r action . The many s pecies that li re already d eclining could become extinct if things con tin ue as they are. It is time to stop using the uncertainties as an excuse lor not acting. Ou r research shows that the harmful eflects o f climate change a re already happening and, if anythi ng, exceed pre d ictions," Dr Maclean said. 'The implications are that unless we do something to reverse climate change impacts by lowering levels of carbon dioxide, or help spectes cope with climate change, we could be looking at a 101 of extinctions by the end of the century. II 's fu rther evidence t bat we are experiencing a global mass extinction," he said. The s tudy, published in the journal Proceeding~ o f the National Academy of Sciences, found tbat 910bal warming ranks alongside habitat loss and lDvasive species as a major th reat to endangered animals and plants . It concluded that the speed a t w hich the climate is likely to cbange in the fu ture threatens to overwhelm the rate at w hich spe路 cies are a bl e to a d apt .
NOSDRA buys vessel to combat oil spill lAlDE AKlNflOADE
Men of [SPWC at work
the mos t trying period for Lagos resldenl5, called on Lagosfans to remove every material that could obstruct free flow of wate r a round thei r s urroundings. He hinted that ~envl.ronmental sanilation exercise may become a daily routine In homes and business envhonmenls In orde r 10 address this ugly situation a l the moment. n On the effort being made by the COlporation to reduce the hardship faced by motorists on Lagos roads, the LSPWC helmsman said l..agosians must unders tand that nol much can be dooe on road maintenance during heavy downpours. According to bim, the heavy rainfalJ 1* nultimate Sunday, washed a\VII.y all the asphalt and othermateriais used for mi'lin_ tenllDce 01 some roa.ds in Lagos just as v.'Ork was completed on s ite. He however stated thai his agency is detenn.ined 10 lIS
contlnuouslyprovidepalUative solutions 10 cushIon the effect of Ule present C1mdi tion 01 some roadll in the state. O n the collaboration 01 slake holders tn road maintenancelssues. Mr: Akinlola sllld he has constanUy been in touch wUh all Agencies who have responsibility on roads In Lagos, including FERMA so thalactioos can be~ led on critical sections 01 Lagos rOllds, espe路 cially Apapa-Oshodl E:r!:press way which is about the mosl worrisome !q)Otusua1ly affected by the flood.
DIRECfOR General of the Na tional Oil Spill Dele<:tion and Response Agency, NOSDRA, Mr Peter Idabor said the agency has bought a 19 pollcat oil spill response vessel to tackle the cbnllengcs of oil spillage in Niger Del la . Idabor who made the disclosure in Ahuja during a ceremony for th e activation of Nigeria National O il Spill Contigency Plan (NOSep) said the vessel wo uld soon amve the country from the United }{jogdom. The vessel, he said, was purchased "to strengthen the oil $pill response capability o f Nigeria and indeed the 22 countries of Global Initiatives fo r West and Central Africa (GI-WACAFJ project. This is line with global be$t practice in o il spill preparedness lor e ffective management of oil spill, particularly tierthree level incidence". H e stated that Shell Petroleum development Company (SPDC) oil $pill contingency plan on tier-2 a nd 3 1evel.s as a baseline operation 10 glluge the oil spill response p reparedness of the company. "The exercise enable d the agenc}' to acces$ and weigh itself on its cap ability to discharge tills specialised a nd sensitive mftndate as weU as accessmg the awareness of other governmenl agencies towards Uleir roles and responsibilities \\;thin the concept of the NOSCP," be said.