Aug. 17, 2021

The Lagos State Planning and Environmental Monitoring Authority (LASPEMA) has started the mapping of Informal Business Sectors on setbacks and other incidental open spaces in the State with the use of drones.

The General Manager of LASPEMA, Tpl. Daisi Oso, who led the technical crew for the Aerial Capture of the setbacks at Abule-Egba to Ojokoro Housing Estate and part of Berkeley Road, off the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway over the weekend, said that there is a need for the Informal Business Sectors in Lagos to be more organised with the establishment of comprehensive data on their activities.

He promised that the Agency would require more equipment such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and drones with digital cameras for capturing the colossal damage done to all the setbacks occupied by the people of the Informal Sector, comprising automobile sellers, car wash operators, iron rod sellers and block industries amongst others.

According to him, images captured with the drone will be downloaded and converted to measurable metrics for better site evaluation, beautification and improvement of the aesthetics of Lagos Urban Space.

While charging Town Planners and Engineers attached to LASPEMA to speed up their work in the areas of mapping out all the informal business sector activities on the Urban Space, such as the setbacks of roads, wetlands or under high tension and other incidental open spaces, Oso opined that these would bring about a sustainable Lagos in line with the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the present administration.

He also reiterated that the resultant effect of a robust interpretation of data collected will enhance the necessary interface with other sectors of the economy or government institutions, one of which is linking the informal sector with Primary Health Centres (PHC) close to their areas of operations.

The General Manager, during the exercise, also engaged representatives of some Informal Business owners along Enitan Street in the axis, inviting them to LASPEMA’s Office for further briefing on the effect of their occupation and the need to regularise their activities with the Agency.

Oso averred that with the pace of ongoing construction in the axis, LASPEMA is projecting to take charge of post-construction open spaces generated before the people of the Informal Sector starts to encroach on them.