Tonye Fuayefika

Previous governments in Rivers State, in their efforts to provide accommodation for the populace and embrace the global policy on Urban Housing Renewal Scheme, built low-cost houses at Ndoki, and Marine Base Waterfronts as a test case. The Marine Base Waterfront Housing Scheme was divided into three phases. As a follow-up of past government‘s effort, the Sam Ewang administration, embarked on the Igbo-Etche Housing Scheme, while the Peter Odili administration embarked on the construction of 1,000 housing units across the twenty-three local government areas of the state.

The original intention of government was to build and sell these houses to civil servants and other indigenes to alleviate the acute accommodation problem in the state. Accordingly, the Ndoki, Aggrey Road, and Marine Base (Phase 1) Waterfronts houses were sold out on owner-occupier basis, the Igbo-Etche. The 1,000 housing units built by the Odili administration also followed the same concept of owner-occupier basis.

In June 1996, seventy semi-detached two-bedroom flats constructed by the Ada George administration in 1993 were completed at the Marine Base Housing Estate (Phase II). Fifty of the flats were allocated to senior civil servants as official quarters, while the remaining twenty flats were given to the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt. This marked a drastic shift from the original policy to sell the houses on owner-occupier basis.

It is pertinent to point out that the Komo administration, in order to hurriedly complete the houses at the (Phases II) of the estate before leaving office, pressurised the contractors and so left many works uncompleted. Most of the houses did not have all the fixtures and fittings required. For instance, the road and gutter in lane one (opposite the Marine Base plank shed) and the main drainage for the estate were not constructed, while the transformer for the estate was not supplied. Twenty flats were connected to two or three shallow soakaways.

Tell-tale signs of leaking and broken ceilings, broken louvre blades, brought about by corroded and ill-fitted louvre frames, peelings, cracking and depressing floors, and dust from termite-eaten woods abound in most flats, which shows the low-quality materials and poor workmanship of the buildings. Even, necessary amenities such as portable water, central refuse receptacle, fence-wall and play ground for the comfort of residents of the estate were not provided for in the physical structures.

So also, past governments failed to register the allottees with NEPA. So the allottees were forced by NEPA to register with them and pay for new metres which unfortunately, had then risen to N25,000 per meter. The brunt of the above problem was borne by the allottees as several letters written to government did not yield any fruit.

Compared to other waterfront estates, the Marine Base (Phase II) estate was built on a very low, marshy, saline soil. No sand-filling was done. Apart from the buildings being hastily carried out, workmanship too was very poor. Workers waded through two to three feet deep of water to carry out construction work, and the porousness and mashiness of the soil has caused the buildings to crack in some flats. Right now, the houses are fast deteriorating and dilapidating, and the allottees have taken up the responsibility of maintaining the houses at their own expense, in addition to paying high rents to government.

Findings have revealed that from inception to this moment successive governments have not done any maintenance or renovation work on the said buildings. It was the allottees who took the onerous burden upon themselves to put in fittings and fixtures not provided by government. The policy implementation of owner-occupier principle will definitely justify all financial obligations made by the allottees concerning the maintenance of the buildings.

The population of Port Harcourt is increasing by the days hence, the need to embark on more new housing estates for the populace. Revenue derivable from the sales of flats in the Marine Base Estate (Phase II) will enable government to embark on the building of more estates to meet the ever-increasing housing needs of the state.

Already, the allottees have registered with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) scheme which entitled them to housing loan at the eventual release of the houses in view. The policy implementation of owner- occupier principles as pronounced in the allocation of the Phase III of the Marine Base Housing Unit, should also apply to the Phase II of the same estate.

It is a known fact that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a civil servant to build a house from his monthly salary. Thus, frustration arising from homelessness has sent many civil servants to a terrible life and untimely death. And since shelter is undoubtedly the third most important thing after air and food. The Rivers State government should consider the implementation of the Federal Government’s “Monetisation” Policy for Rivers state workers. This will definitely lesson the burden of the resident occupants of Phase II, and make their eventual retirement in service a worth while dream.

Fuayefika wrote in from Port Harcourt.