By Sarah NEGEDU
The Federal Capital Territory Administration has said, it will be carrying out a mapping of structures along the Ring Road 3 area of the territory, to check the growing cases of encroachments on the reservation corridors.
Director of the FCT Development Control Department, Tpl. Muhktar Galadima, who disclosed this shortly after inspecting the area, said the encroachment is stalling road construction and provision of other infrastructure in the new layout.
The Ring Road 3 which stretches from the Abuja Model City, popularly called Charly Boy Estate, to the EFAB Estate, is said to be part of the new layout currently being developed under the phase three of the city development.
Galadima, who also inspected other areas with officials of relevant agencies, warned that any structure found contravening approved development plans in the FCT will be removed, as the Administration will not compromise standards.
Already, he said the departments of Survey and Mapping and that of Engineering design, have been asked to commence a mapping of the reservation corridor so as to determine the number of structures to be removed.
“We observed that some of the structures there are on our proposed corridor for Ring Road 3. We have therefore assigned responsibilities to the Department of Survey and Mapping as well as Engineering Design so that we can get the exact coordinates and alignments of the road, then we mark them on ground and see the number of structures that are really encroaching on this corridor for further unnecessary action.
“In the FCT, we don’t compromise our roads or any infrastructure, so any structure that is found to have really encroached on the corridor will be removed, because we have standards. So that’s why we went along with our colleagues from Federal Housing Authority, and the Federal Minister of Works and Housing.”
Speaking on the team’s visit to the Kaura model market and some areas in Wuse 2, Galadima said alot of contraventions were observed, as business owners seem to desperately want to recoup their investments within the shortest time by converting every available space to business premises.
He said the department will continue to carry out regular monitoring of the city’s development, to ensure that development are in consonance with what was approved.
The Director therefore advised investors and developers to always obey constituted authorities and ensure that properties are developed in line with the provisions of the Abuja master plan and others developing guidelines, warning that those who choose to do otherwise will be appropriately handled as specified by law.
On his part, the Coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, Alhaji Umar Shuaibu, pointed that the contracts some of the roads in the new layouts visited have already been awarded, but the contractors had to abandon them due to encroachment on such roads.
In his words, “We have seen some of the infractions on ground. Some of the road corridors left for future development are being illegally encroached upon by some individuals including government agencies who don’t have adequate information. There are some of these roads that contracts for their construction have been awarded, but the developers are encroaching on them, forcing the contractors to stop work until the issues are ironed out.”
