RSUST New-Site Committee Urges Land Donors’ Patience

The Land Acquisition Committee in charge of paying compensation to land donors for the new Rivers State University of Science and Technology has called on landlords to be patient as modalities ate being worked out for them to receive their benefits.

The assurance came in reaction to rumour alleging that the committee had lodged the money about N4billion into an account to yield interest for them as the money is still intact.

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Lands and Survey, Pastor Christopher Briggs, while debunking a newspaper report over the delay in paying the compensation said”, the money is intact and we did not lodge the money into any interest yielding facility and no COT charge have been made on it.

He said the committee is only fine-turning strategies to pay the compensation in such a way that would avoid acrimony or controversies since all the lands have been assessed and owners determined.

Pastor Briggs explained that there was no need for the land owners to be afraid because compensation would be paid immediately the committee concludes its strategy to pay.

The new UST site is located within the prescient of the Omagwa/Igwuruta axis and it was learnt that communities located along the area donated lots of their lands for the take off of the project.

Last week, some land owners of the site located around the Igwuruta axis in Ikwerre Local Government Area-led by one Mr Nyegbule Frederick, Secretary of CDC Omuoda-Aluu, on behalf of Omuoda-Aluu, Wegwu family of Mbodo Aluu decried the delay in receiving their compensation.

They vowed not to stand in the way of the committee in doing its job but observed that, “until the end of June 2009, we have not been paid claims of compensation for our lands, against the promises made by the state governor, who is also our son and brother”.

Also they claim that if the money have been released to the land acquisition committee headed by a respectable leader in Ikwerre land, Chief Orabule Adiele, then the delay becomes more worrisome.