Senate Orders Alteration Of Abuja Master Plan

The Nigerian Senate, has directed the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to review the city’s master plan with a view to creating more entry routes into and out of the city through a synergy with neighboring states.

The Senate also directed the Federal Ministry of Works and the FCTA to take every necessary step to ease the flow of traffic into the city.

These followed a motion on the ‘Perennial Traffic Congestion on Entry Routes into the FCT, Abuja’ sponsored by Senator Barnabas Gemade and ten others which intimated the Senate of the huge losses in man-hour, economic losses and security threats the jams had exposed persons moving in and out of Abuja.

According to the motion, all the three entry routes (Keffi-Abuja Road, Kaduna-Zuba- Abuja Road and Lokpoja-Airport-Abuja road for months now had been characterised by a freezing traffic jam mostly caused by the size of the roads and the location of markets, motor parks and physical development near highways shoulders, in total disregard to the federal highway regulation of 150 meters right of way to pave way for buying and selling and ensure traders do not spill over to the roads.

Senator Gemade noted that such obstructions did not only obstruct traffic but contributed to fatal accidents like the fuel tanker/lorries accidents at Madalla Market along Suleja/ZubaAbuja Road.

The Senator also sited the Masaka, Ado, Maraba and Madalla and Nyanya/FCT boundary as markets wrongfully located at the detriment of free flow of traffic into and out of the FCT.

The Senate was unanimous on the need for the government and the FCTA to urgently find solutions to the problem even if it requires effecting immediate changes to the Abuja master plan.

Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi