PH Residents Seek Policy On High-Rise Buildings

In order to guarantee
proper land management in Port Harcourt metropolis, some residents of Port Harcourt have urged the Rivers State Government to come up with a policy that will compel future housing development to favour high rise buildings.
They have also urged government to make mortgage funds available, as well as partner with private individuals  or developers on this policy of high-rise housing development.
Speaking to the The Tide on the matter, a civil servant  in Port Harcourt, Tamuno Johnbull, said that the pattern of buildings within the Port Harcourt metropolis, especially within the Ogbunabali, Diobu, Town and Waterlines axis needs to be replanned and rebuilt.
According to him, land is a fixed factor, while population keeps increasing and that many people who need accommodation, especially some natives of the area cannot have homes because the few rooms available cannot guarantee them accommodation.
He said that if these bungalows were re-planned and converted into high-rise buildings, it will guarantee many more accommodation for the people.
Following the position of Johnbull, a business man, Mr. Philips Onu, said that since most government and other secular businesses are concentrated within the Town and Diobu axis, it follows that many people who do business in these places would want to live close to their business place to minimise transport and time waste.
He said that these places seem congested, and that most of the buildings there are bungalows which can only accommodate few people.
Onu posited that things have to change, pointing out that this had affected most of the indigenes, who now leave their communities to seek for accommodation in other places within the Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre Local Government Areas.
On his part, Chuks Ebele, a civil engineer, said that it will be a very big task for individuals to undertake the business of redeveloping a property to a high rise status, except with the help of government and corporate bodies.
He agreed that when such high rise buildings are developed, that it will give more accommodation to the people, and therefore, urged the State government and corporate organisations to wake up to this task to make Port Harcourt metropolis wear a new face.
Meanwhile, an estate surveyor and valuer in Port Harcourt, Mr Mark Igboli has said that the interplay of demand and supply in commercial accommodation has started paving way for high rise building in Port Harcourt.
He said that many houses were already being converted to high rise buildings, but pointed out that what can guarantee such is if the buildings will be rented for commercial or residential purpose.

Walter Corlins