The Federal Executive Council
(FEC) has approved the
development of the remaining
portion of the land acquired for
the 1977 FESTAC into a proper
estate which will be known as new FESTAC City. The planned
development of FESTAC Phase
Two will be led by the private
sector . Briefing state house
correspondents after the meeting
on Wednesday, the Minister of
Housing, Ms Amal Pepple, stated
that over the years the
remaining portion spanning over 1,136hectres will create over
7,000plots with shopping malls,
health centres as well as create
jobs for Nigerians. She said the new FESTAC city
will be purely private sector
funded and will be concessioned
over a period of 30 years at a cost
of N25.7 billion, adding that it
will be handled by four companies. The meeting agreed that such
portion of land can fetch the
country about N150 million in
grand rents annually, hence it
cannot be lying fallow when the
government wants the private sector to develop infrastructure
in the country. e-Prisons and border The meeting chaired by President
Goodluck Jonathan devoted its
time on the performance report
of the Ministry of Interior in
continuation of the review of
the scorecards of the various ministries in 2012. The Minister of Interior, Mr Abba
Moro revealed to council that his
ministry has come up with a
proposal to introduce what he
called e-prisons to forestall
frequent jail breaks in the country as well as electronic
surveillance on Nigerian borders. He made this known while he
was briefing the cabinet on the
performance of his ministry in
the year 2012. The Minister also informed
council of the improvement in
the nation’s new visa regime,
which was designed to attract
investors into the country. He also gave an update on border
control measures, immigration
issues, civil defence and prison
reforms. Posted by Channels Television on March 13, 2013.