Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Lagos imposes tax on food consumption, services
LAGOS State Government, on Monday, signed into law a bill to impose tax on food consumption and services at hotels, restaurants and event places.
With this, anybody who buys consumable goods or gets service at hotel and restaurant, pays five per cent of the purchase or the service.
According to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Legislative and Political Powers Bureau, Mr. Abdulkareem Abdullateef, the hotels include, a motel, guest house, apartment for short-time letting, while event centres include; hall, auditorium and open spaces and all other places dedicated as public.
Presenting the bill for signing, Abdullateef said that defaulter would be liable to two years imprisonment or N2 million option of fine or both.
According to him, managements of the hotels and restaurants had been appointed as agents to collect the taxes, while the Lagos Internal Revenue Service would be in charge of the administration of the law.
Abdullateef stated that the law stipulated that every hotel and restaurant must register with the Lagos Internal Revenue Service to effectively implement the law.
He stated that government would begin to operate the law 30 days from when it was signed, calling on all to cooperate with the government.
To address issue of double taxation, the special adviser said that the hotel and other affected restaurants had been exempted from sales tax in the state.
“It’s not going to be business as usual, before any government ministry, agency or local government officials can enter into any contractual relationship with any hotel, restaurant, event centre, there is a condition precedence and it is that such an event centre must produce an evidence of registration with LIRS,” he said.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Lagos Shuts Church, Two Others.
June 17, 2009 14:40 (1 hour ago)
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Lagos state government, this morning, shut down Holy Life Bible Church, Abule Egba and two companies, over noise and gas pollution.
Officials of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), accompanied by task force officials, stormed the church and shut it down over noise from loudspeakers and air pollution from generators. LASEPA officials, led by Mr. Kayode Bello, made the church to sign a sanction document that the church will put things in place to correct the anomalies before it would be reopened.
LASEPA had earlier served the church an abatement notice which it failed to comply with before the closure. The team also shut down Current Bakery, Ilasa, over noise pollution, while Perfect Packaging Company was also shut down over the same reason and gaseous pollution. The closure of the church, according to the Lagos state government, signalled the commencement of enforcement of the state law against noise pollution in churches and other places.
The general manager, LASEPA, Engr. Rasheed Shabi, had warned that the state would no longer tolerate a situation where churches and mosques in the state disturb Lagosians with noise from their megaphones. He had warned that any church or mosque found to violate the LASEPA edict on noise pollution would be sanctioned and shut down. Rasheed, who spoke at a meeting with religious leaders in the state, urged the churches and mosques to ensure that their loud speakers were used inside their churches in order not to disturb the public.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
American Hawks Gala In Lagos... Eko O Ni Baje Indeed.
•Sean Alsilski, hawking gala at Ojota bus stop, Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: KAZEEM UGBODAGA.
He rebuffed people trying to ask him why he was out in the streets selling gala, saying he was too busy to talk to anyone. After much prompting by this reporter, he opened up on why he was out selling gala on Lagos streets. Alsilski said he came to Lagos to carry out a six-month research project on hawking and street trading in Lagos, and the best way to get the answers that he wants was to get involved in the real business rather than be an observer.
He said he had already spent five months in Lagos, hawking gala at different parts of the state. “I am here to do a research on hawking and street trading. I was billed to be in Nigeria for six months as part of the Fullbright exchange programme. “I have been here for five months now, hawking. I have one month to go. I am going to give a presentation to the United States Embassy about my research,” said Alsilski. Born in the city of New York, the United States, Alsilski lamented that from what he has observed, government was harsh on hawkers and street traders.
“Hawkers here are under stress right now from the government and I am studying what the government is doing right now. We can make some recommendations. “Government is harsh on them. Some of them have had their goods taken away. I am not sure that is the best way to go about it. “In some cities, hawkers and traders are given licenses and allowed to go to certain areas to hawk. But hawkers should not be allowed to hawk in places like Oshodi,” he stated. Alsilski’s hawking business has taken him to Yaba, Ojuelegba, Mushin, Ojota, Mile 2, Apapa, Lagos Island and Agege.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Eko Free Health Mission In Ajegunle
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Lagos state government is to screen at least 20,000 Lagosians on various ailments, as it kicks-off its five-day free health mission today, at the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government.
Lagosians will be screened on diverse ailments, including dental, general and eye surgeries. The state government said it would deploy its recently procured “Field Hospital” to further compliment the objective of ensuring the accessibility of qualitative healthcare to the people of the state at no cost to beneficiaries. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who disclosed this at the weekend, said the Eko Free Health Mission would be held at Araromi Primary School, Achakpo Road, Ajegunle, in the Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state.
Idris described the Field Hospital as a standard hospital on wheel that could provide on-the-spot emergency services and relief management to complement the Eko Free Health Mission by taking off the overwhelming pressure on the hospitals where the Free Health Missions are held without disrupting the day-to-day regular hospital operations. He explained that the Field Hospital also has the capacity to undertake different types of surgeries, including eye surgery such as cataract and glaucoma; routine surgeries such as herniorraphy lipon, appendisectomy; paediatric surgeries and emergency surgeries such as entopic in pregnancy, among others.
The commissioner explained further that there were six basic components of the Field Hospital which include a standard theatre and six inflatable tents that serve as emergency/examination sections; pre-operation section; recovery/intensive care unit, equipped with three beds; registration and laboratory section; medical supplies and in-patient ward that can accommodate 20 patients. He stressed that with the deployment of the Field Hospital, ”more people are expected to benefit from the Mission this time around.”
He disclosed that the quest to find ways to take health care to the grassroots and under-served areas of the state led to the introduction of the Eko Free Health Mission, adding that ”the Mission is a comprehensive healthcare initiative that covers primary, secondary and tertiary levels of prevention.” Idris said the Mission is significant because it will assist the state government in its efforts to bring to the barest minimum, the number of untimely deaths in the state, particularly as the beneficiaries of the programme include the most vulnerable part of the population at the grassroots like the elderly, children, youth and pregnant women who are prone to infections and other related diseases.
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