Concerned that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was listed as one of the places prone to flooding in the 2022 Annual Flood Outlook, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has vowed not to reverse its planned demolition of all estates illegally built on waterways.
Shuaib Umar, Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), reiterated this stance on Friday during a stakeholder meeting with both the Management and Residents Associations of Trademore Estate.
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 to the detriment of others.
“Even a single house could cause problems for so many people. If that single house is not constructed where it is supposed to be constructed,” he stated.
Also, the Director of the 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 people’s lives.
Galadima noted that the Valley Hub estate in Lugbe is already under the fire of angry bulldozers, and 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.
Galadima said, “Now is the moment, 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”.
Meanwhile, a representative of Trademore Estate, Arc. Ifeanyi Uzoigwe said there was the need for FCTA to evaluate a dam owned by FCTA located at Alieta, a community before Lugbe, which has collapsed and is contributing to the flooding.
Uzuigwe also added that some of the water channels within the area need to be expanded urgently.
Tribune
