Posted by From Andy Ekugo in Abuja on
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Admi-nistration (FCTA) Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has urged Nigerians to see ongoing reforms in the FCT dispassionately, adding that it was for the good of the country.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Admi-nistration (FCTA) Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has urged Nigerians to see ongoing reforms in the FCT dispassionately, adding that it was for the good of the country.
El-Rufai stated this over the weekend during an interactive meeting with residents and stake-holders of FCT. The meeting which lasted for over six hours, offered the minister the opportunity to explain to residents the vision of the administration, the progress so far and the way forward, while residents were urged to come up with memoranda. They also had an opportunity to bare their minds on issues affecting them.
As expected, one of the issues that took center stage was the issue of removal of illegal structure in the FCT. El-Rufai while explaining that there may be no option but to restore the master plan, stressed that unless a victim of the demolition had legal documents, such houses must be removed.
He discouraged people from thinking that after this administration, the next may revert to status quo stressing that as long as any structure was erected illegally, relevant laws would catch up with offenders. He buttressed that by saying "I may leave by 2007, but if you are involved in such act, another el-Rufai will get you".
Mrs Altine Jubrin who is in charge of the Abuja Geographic Information System warned also that those who have no legal documents for their buildings have no hiding place as AGIS will soon commence auditing houses in the FCT through satellite imagery whereby illegal houses would be spotted.
In addition, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) announced at the meeting that in collaboration with State and Local Government Programme (SLGP) of the Department For International Development, it was embarking on an enumeration of the number, types of buildings and housing units within the district of the Federal Capital City (FCC) from July 15 . This according to AEPB is to aimed at improving service delivery in all the districts of the FCC. Meanwhile, el-Rufai also handed letters to about 1,500 residents of Idu Karimu who have been resettled after the demolition exercise in the area while also announcing that by October all parts of the FCT will be covered by internet service whereby anybody can have wireless internet assess anywhere in the city with a scratch card of N4,000 per month. The project is on-going within the FCDA Headquarters and parts of Area 11 where it is currently on demonstration.