Facility manager seeks sustainable public infrastructure
The Managing Director, Alpha Mead Facilities and Management Services Limited, Mr. Femi Akintunde, has asked the government and the private sector to ensure sustainable infrastructural development as they continue to tilt favourably in the direction of Public-Private Partnership for the delivery of infrastructure.
Akintunde, who spoke at the 4th edition of the Infrastructure Asset Summit Africa in Lagos, said for any infrastructure project to be sustainableit must be economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally responsible to all stakeholders.
“Most concessioned infrastructure projects in the country today are witnessing setbacks and are losing their essence because sustainability factors such as stakeholders’ engagement, facilities management and asset maintenance are relegated to the background from inception,” he said.
Akintunde spoke on: ‘Achieving sustainability in the development and management of public infrastructure through PPP concession arrangement: Case study of the Lekki Toll Road’, noting that the Lekki/Epe master plan was on course, but sustainability of the project might be at risk.
He said, “As with most other Public-Private Partnership projects in Nigeria, there are some challenges with the Lekki-Epe Expressway project, which is threatening the sustainability of the master plan. For example, there is only one road access to that axis; how would people be evacuated in cases of emergencies? For an area projected to accommodate a resident population of about 3.4 million, the road is not economically sustainable because it is prone to quicker wear and tear due to the heavy traffic it carries.
“On the other hand, we should ask ourselves why the people are resisting the tolling even when travel time on the road has reduced. It is because the government and private sector are yet to show the people the economics of the project.
“As the case stands, the government has bought the project off the private company; but we must consider the situation from the point of view of future investors in our PPP projects. Why would any private investor want to put his money in ventures that the people might resist?”
Akintunde also expressed concern that other infrastructure such as airports that were given out on concession were becoming unsustainable because the maintenance of the projects was taken for granted.
He said his fear was that if the poor maintenance culture of public infrastructure continued unabated, at the end of the concession period, mere carcasses that might be worse than what were given out to private investors would be left.
According to him, all stakeholders stand to benefit from the immense gains of PPP but each of them must be willing to play defined roles.
He added, “Rather than getting entangled with maintenance and operations, government should focus on its key role, which is regulatory. So for us to get value on our public infrastructure, government must assume that role of requesting that private sector operators include facilities management and maintenance components in their concession agreements.
“Government must also go further to ensure strict adherence and enforcement of the laid down procedure for maintenance of the infrastructure.”
PUNCH
