· FCTA to demolish more building at Trademore, Valley Hub Estates
By Sarah NEGEDU
The Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has given indication that there will be no going back on the planned demolition of houses allegedly built along waterways at the Trademore Estate in Lugbe, even as it vowed to rectify all development violations.
The administration’s stance is against the backdrop of the FCT’s negative feature in the 2022 Annual Flood Outlook.
The recently release Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, puts Gwagwalada and Abuja Municipal Area Councils on highly probable flood risk area councils.
The outlook which cuts across all the states of the federation has a total of 233 local government areas in 32 states and the FCT on the highly probable flood risk areas, while 212 local government areas in 35 states of the federation and the FCT fall within the moderate probable flood risk areas.
However, the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, AMMC, says it will this week pull down all structures illegally developed on green areas at the Trademore Estate as well as the Valley Hub Estate in Lugbe to mitigate the impact of flooding in those areas.
Coordinator of the AMMC, Shuaib Umar, who disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting with both management and residents’ associations of Trademore Estate, said not a single obstruction will be allowed to stand.
Umar said, “by next week all these houses are going down. The solution to this is the removal of these houses. We won’t like ourselves at the detriment of others.
“Even a single house could cause problem for so many people. If that single house is not constructed where it is supposed to be constructed.”
Also, the Director of Department of Development Control, Muktar Galadima, who led a demolition squad to one of the offending estates in Lugbe District, said it was appalling that developers were jeopardising peoples’ lives.
Galadima noted that the Valley Hub Estate in Lugbe violated development rules by illegally expanding and building on green areas.
He also said that over 20 houses built along waterways at Trademore Estate and others would be demolished as scheduled, after the ultimatum given to them to move has expired.
In his words, “now is the time, those houses marked for removal are going. Anything that would come after can be resolved. The first thing now is to save lives and properties.
“This demolition will not only be limited to Trademore Estate, even the downstream we are going to remove all the houses that are on the flood plain.”
Earlier the FCT Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, said it has carried out a high level and technical assessment of all flood prone and vulnerable areas in the FCT with high level technical partners, including the FCDA, Department of Development Control, Engineering Services, Facility Maintenance and Management Department, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Urban and Regional Planning among others to identify and remove all objects obstructing the free flow of storm water.
The Director General of FEMA, Alhaji Abbas Idriss, said particular attention was being paid to all the vulnerable areas of the FCT.
He also blamed the recent incidents of flooding in the FCT on human activities like indiscriminate building on waterways, refuse dumping and removal and blocking of manholes led to clogging of the drains which is supposed to channel water to the discharge points.
“Since the end of last year’s raining season, FEMA has been carrying out impact assessment of the entire FCT and noticed some infrastructural gaps, like inadequate box culverts and other infractions especially in Lokogoma and Galadimawa districts. It therefore commends the FCDA for prompt replacement of some of the box culverts with bridges.”
He appealed to residents to own up to their environment to ensure that nobody violates the masterplan by building on waterways, dumping of refuse or any activity that could hinder free flow of storm water.
