The Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) has stated that the organisation will begin full implementation of its policies in the second quarter of 2023.
LASPA’s General Manager, Mrs. Adebisi Adelabu said this in press conference yesterday, noting that the Authority believes it would help improve the parking culture in the state.
Adelabu also she reeled out the mandate, functions and strategies of the Authority in Lagos, while reassuring that Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was committed to creating a well designed and coordinated parking management system for the state.
She, however, asserted that LASPA was to assist Lagos residents to be mindful of parking their vehicles appropriately, as this would impact positively on the environment and the roads.
Her words: “The Lagos State Parking Authority is an Agency of Government created by law, under the leadership of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, with the core mandate to regulate and manage all forms of Parking, register existing private, public parks and holistically tackle the menace of parking.”
“There was need for our establishment to regulate parking because, we have Vehicle Inspection Authority, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, but parking is essential to tackle traffic congestion. If one really wants to address traffic challenges, we need to start from parking problem and that is why LASPA was established.”
Noting that the Authority is working with the Local Governments to achieve their mandate in terms of parking, Adelabu stressed that the agency was not a revenue generating one, adding that people have been paying for parking since time immemorial in Lagos.
The official said that nobody, however, knew who they paid to, as it was the norm in Lagos for anyone to collect money.
She said that government believed it was important to address unauthorized collection of parking fees and there was the need to change the habit of parking cars all around in Lagos, even as she expressed optimism that the move would further decongest Lagos roads..
She said that LASPA, established in 2021, was created to assist Lagos residents to consider factors attached to parking cars as the Authority had spent sufficient time to sensitize Lagos residents with various means of communication.
According to her, the sensitization will continue until the second quarter of 2023 when regulatory operations would commence and there would be penalties for offenders when that phase of operations begin.
The Lagos State Government would be creating employment directly with the operations and concessionaires have been drafted in to create parking places around Ikeja, Surulere, Apapa, among other locations.
