Lagos Parking Policy Not For Witch-hunt, Says Sanwo-Olu

Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said that the introduction of Parking Authority in the state was not to witch-hunt anybody but to control indiscriminate parking on the ever busy state roads.

The governor disclosed this at the maiden edition of the Lagos State Parking Authority Stakeholders’ Forum.

He said the establishment of the agency was in the best interest of all Lagosians and for the development of the state.

“Considering the crucial role that parking management plays in traffic management around the world, and the fact that traffic management and transportation is the first pillar of our THEMES+ agenda, we cannot but place it on the front-burner of our transport policy implementation in Lagos State.

“As you are all aware, the Lagos state government has a strategic Transport Master Plan. Within the ambit of this Master Plan, we have the Lagos State Parking Policy, as well as the law that in 2021 established the Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA), which has been saddled with the responsibility of regulating all forms of parking, adopting innovative, adaptable and sustainable operational system and technologies, while also laying the foundation for a lasting change in parking culture across the state.

“We are intentional and unrelenting in our efforts to address all traffic issues in the state, and we have identified indiscriminate parking as one of the major challenges to the free flow of traffic”, he said.

At the forum, the governor also announced that  President Bola Tinubu will on February 29 inaugurate  the iconic Red Line Rail .

In her welcome address at the occasion, General Manager, Lagos State Parking Authority, Mrs. Adebisi Adelabu said the goal of her agency is  to address all parking related issues, curb indiscriminate parking and put an end to all parking induced gridlocks in the state in a bid to push Lagos forward and to compete with other metropolitan cities across the continent through the development of  a strategic parking management system.

“Across the world and in most metropolitan cities, parking is a strategic tool in traffic management. And we aim to ensure our efforts to address all parking issues are successful thereby positioning Lagos state as a leading light amongst other cities, when it comes to parking management”, she said.