Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Lagos State government has announced a tax holiday for business owners at the popular Circle Mall in Lekki, whose stores were burnt down by some hoodlums about two weeks ago.
In the aftermath of the shooting of peaceful #EndSARS protesters in Lagos by soldiers, thugs unleashed terror on the state, burning down both government and private properties.
The Circle Mall was among those destroyed by arsonists, leaving owners of shops and stores helpless.
On Sunday, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu held a meeting with tenants of the mall and promised to assist them with tax break and loans to assist them to bounce back to business.
Mr Sanwo-Olu explained to the business owners that the tax holiday will come in form of an exemption from the payment of PAYE.
The Governor also appealed to the federal government to consider extending a similar gesture to the affected entrepreneurs through the Federal Internal Revenue Services (FIRS).
On the financial assistance, the Governor said his administration will give to the victims non-refundable amount of money, noting that he was also in talks with some financial institutions to assist people with zero-interest loans.
He asked the shop owners to reach out to the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and urged them to make use of the opportunities being provided by the agency in assisting people who are in business, especially small scale businesses.
In their remarks, the tenants at Circle Mall thanked Governor Sanwo-Olu for showing empathy in the face of daunting challenges, appealing to him to strengthen security to prevent future occurrences of the two attacks they suffered in the last 13 months.
The Governor, while responding, said though people cannot be stopped from coming into the state, he warned people with criminal intentions to go elsewhere before being smoked out by the government, promising to go the extra mile to protect businesses in the state.
