Manager Charges Rivers People On Greater PH Initiative

The people of Rivers
State have been charged to appreciate the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority (GPHCDA) so as to reap its benefits.
The Manager, Environmental Impact Assessment/Health, Safety and Environment of the Authority, Dr. Anwaini Osuamkpe, gave the charge in a chat with our correspondent at the weekend in Port Harcourt.
Osuamkpe expressed regrets that people outside the state seem to believe more in GPHCDA than Rivers people who should  benefit from the body rather than criticising it.
He further said, “other people are keying in and reaping the benefits; if you look back to 2009 and 2010, there were not many property development agencies in the state, but since the coming on board of GPH, we have a boom of developers using GPH as a rallying point.”
He noted that GPHCDA was set up to plan and develop a new city to help decongest Port Harcourt city over an area of land acquired by government through willing buyer/seller agreement.
He explained that to achieve this, plots have been sold in the first phase to individuals who will build according to specifications.
He said further that GPH was set up to quickly check the fast growing population of Port Harcourt, which would have culminated into one big slum if nothing was done.
He advised that before buying land in certain areas in Rivers State, “you have to take the survey plan from our office for us to confirm that you are not buying government land, we have developmental nodes in Rivers State and our job is to link these n odes for an effective city.”

Tonye Nria-Dappa