We wouldn’t have achieved meaningful budget performance without the secretariat reconstruction – Shammeh

By Abolaji Adebayo

The Chairman of Isolo Local Council development Area (LCDA), Hon. Shamsudeen Olaleye (Shammeh) has confessed that his administration would not have achieved any meaningful budget performance if it has not started and completed the reconstruction of the buildings within the council secretariat and other developmental projects in the community.

In a bid to make the council secretariat of international standard, the management of Isolo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) has embarked on the reconstruction of the major buildings to give the secretariat modern look.

In an exclusive chat with ECHONEWS, the council chairman said the reconstruction of the buildings which cut across the three arms of government has been provided for in the current year budget, saying the budget appraisal would not be perfect without executing the projects.

The project includes the Legislative Building which was demolished to give way for a brand new Legislative Chamber and adjoining offices; the Chairman’s Building which has been pulled down would be re-constructed as one-storey building to house about 13 offices and the Customary Court building to be enlarged with new-look and more offices being created.

Olaleye said the on-going reconstruction would be completed by December 2019.

Asked how much was budgeted for the project, Shammeh said the work could only be valued monetarily after it has been completed, saying the management might incur other expenses not early budgeted for the project.

“At this level, it is an ongoing project, we don’t begin to talk about the cost midway what if we mention a figure and at the long run we discover that we run to do variation which my take additional cost, then inconsistency would come in which is not okay for a government that is people’s oriented.

“We want to be fully engaged not in any projects but the projects that can be termed as legacy projects, projects that will speak for us years after we might have left office. What is going on in the secretariat is not renovation but total reconstruction. The chairman’s block is going to be a storey building with nothing less than 13 offices that will take care of office accommodation challenge we have.

“And for the legislative block, it is also going to be a new structure entirely. Isolo LCDA deserves a befitting legislative building. We want to run a balance among the three arms of government, hence the reconstruction of our customary court. We can now say that the whole of Isolo LCDA secretariat is a work in progress.

“All of these works are time bound as we want them completed by December this year.

“These projects have provision in the current year budget; we would not have achieved any meaningful budget performance if these projects are not started and completed this year. It is not a rush but work is in progress to make sure all the projects are delivered this year. The court is almost 80 per cent completed.

“This is what we are doing with the secretariat, outside the secretariat; we have not less than six developmental projects that are ongoing, very soon heads of departments and heads of units of this local council will receive their official cars.

“And mark it, Isolo LCDA has not approached any bank for loan, what we have in place is solid financial engineering such that we incur cost on our project and we defray the cost within the quarters that the project is executed.”