Anambra: Estate Developers Urge Lawmakers To Enact Law Against Illegal Multiple Levies ……..Warned Against Quacks, Inaugurate Office Headquarter
By Julie Sylvia, Onitsha
An Estate developing Company, Blue sky Properties on 5th July, Inaugurated their corporate headquarters, urged the lawmakers to enact law against illegal multiple taxation to curtail housing deficit which is a major challenge currently facing the nation.
Speaking in an interview with one of the founders Barr. Chima Umensofor during the inauguration at Onitsha, Anambra State, he stated that Anambra state House of Assembly should enact a law against multiple levies being demanded by host communities from their land developers.
“Government should look at the development levies the host communities demand from land developers, which include, development levy, youth levy, elders levy, building levy, among others. If these demands are criminalized by the lawmakers and some people are jailed, definitely they will stop the illegal multiple levy collection.
“There is deficit in housing now and with these estate scattered all over the place there will be housing for people at cheaper rate . One should also demand for documents of land prior to procurement to avoid falling into the hands of fraudsters,” he stated.
He stressed the need for the state government to assist land developers with land and loan as they are partners in progress with the state government, adding that it will curtail the burden of estate development.
According to a co-founder, Mr Ifeanyi A.C Ezeh, “We have been in estate management/development for years and have gotten the experience and that is why we came together to open ours.All our dealings are official.
“People should buy or transact land business with genuine developers like us. The problem in estate development is quackery. What ever the quacks tell you is fake. They don’t have address, they hide what they do. We can’t lose the integrity we built over the years. You have to go to government and do all research before you buy land.
“There are quacks everywhere, we don’t do promise and fail, we do free registration of those who want to be realtors but with time, (30 days from now) we demand money for registration.
“Here in Blue sky Properties, nobody buys a land without paying into the company’s account. We have our realtors who receive training every Monday between 11am to 12.30 pm. So everything is documented and through the bank payment is made otherwise you give your money to fraudsters. Lack of trust is the greatest problem.
“We want to have as many realtors as possible, even from overseas, we expect to have 1000 land owners, (landlords). The reason we have a lawyer as a co founder is because of land issue,” he further disclosed.
Contributing, a co founder, Mr Bonaventure Ohanyirim, assured the gathering that the company is a composition of experienced estate developers/managers pointing out that the company is registered with Corporate Affairs Commission and that the State government is also aware of its existence.
“One of us, Ifeanyi, is a consultant to big companies on land issues and we have a lawyer as co founder who also is into estate development prior to our coming together to form our own company. I have been in estate management since 2011 and have not been sued or dragged to court because I know everything about land issue,” he further explained.
“So the public is assured of genuine land transactions and we train our realtors here every Monday on how to go about their business,” Ohanyirim posited.
The trio also stressed the need for land buyers to ensure the genuineness of the land they want to procure by demanding for the documented proof of ownership not only from the owner but also from the State Ministry of Land and development.
