FCT Demolishes 124,000 Houses In Two Years

FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, on Monday said that
more than 124,000 houses had been demolished in Abuja since he assumed office
in 2010.

Bala disclosed this at the Town Hall Meeting to round-off the
three days Good Governance Projects Tour of Abuja.

He said the administrations before him had demolished 30,000
houses.

“We are doing this to get the Abuja Masterplan correctly, we
are demolishing and we will continue to demolish.’’

He said that compensation and resettlement had become a big
problem and that plans were on to relocate 19 villages very soon.

“We have to complete the building in Wasa and other places
before we can resettle them.

“The structures ought to have been completed three years
before I assumed office but I am assuring you that we shall complete them very
soon.

“The demolition of the illegal structures has become
imperative in order to keep the sanity of the city and restore the original
masterplan of the nation’s capital.

“We must not allow the FCT to degenerate into something
else. We must protect the sanity of the city.

“The Land Use Act says FCT is under the Federal Government.

“Under the delegation of power by the president, the FCT
minister can allocate land. But people are still abusing the masterplan with
absolute recklessness and selling lands to people anyhow’’, he said.

He announced plans to build an estate on a 50 hectare land
in Kapa for Mpape residents, in collaboration with the Abuja Investment
Company.

On sanitation, he said that two dumpsites had been washed
away due to unprecedented rainfall this year but added that a temporary one had
been provided.

He said he had employed 25 consultants on health issues in
the territory, adding that the administration had done alot to boost access to
heath care services.

“Nyanya General Hospital has witnessed a huge turn
around.Our general hospitals are fully equipped and we have the best intensive
care units now,” the minister said.

The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, said President
Goodluck Jonathan personally gave the approval for the nation-wide tour.

Maku said the tour is to put pressure on elected officials
to work.

“Mr President, in the last two years, set agenda for all the
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The tour is not about the
political party but about projects executed by elected officials,” he said.

Prof. Sylvester Monye, the Special Adviser to the President
on Project Performance Monitoring, commended the FCT minister’s performance so
far.

Monye said that the Abuja Light Rail project would
contribute greatly to the national economy in the area of poverty alleviation
and job opportunities for the youths.