Many may lose land titles in Phase V of FCT
A Pre-land Use Plan for the development of Phase V of FCC was presented to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Abuja penultimate Thursday. The plan shows that most layouts in Lugbe are unofficial, a dependable source at the event told Daily Trust. This means the structures there are illegal. Unapproved development in Lugbe was […]
A Pre-land Use Plan for the development of Phase V of FCC was presented to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Abuja penultimate Thursday. The plan shows that most layouts in Lugbe are unofficial, a dependable source at the event told Daily Trust. This means the structures there are illegal. Unapproved development in Lugbe was centre of the discourse at the event. Authorities promised to look at the plan and take appropriate actions. FCDA contracted a private firm called Messrs Edres Consultant to do the plan.
Present were directors of the various departments under FCDA. The Director of Engineering Alfa Abu chaired the meeting on behalf of the Executive Secretary FCDA Ismaila Adamu.
Need for opening of Phase V arose from the pressure on Phases I to IV. Before the capturing of Phase V, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) had done its activities in the place. It gave titles to developers who have built especially in a place called Lugbe. Lugbe was said to be a place with a lot of fake documents. Now the new plan says no layout in the phase fits into the city plan because they are mostly satellite town plans.
The document was titled Final General Land Use Report of Phase V (Lot 1), FCC Abuja. Mr Nuhu Ajoge who presented the report on behalf of Edres Consultant said Phase V had no structural plan in the master plan and, being under AMAC, has allocations that are contrary to the master plan. This makes the area badly encumbered. During the work, he said his company acquired aerial images and a layout plan. Satellite images guided it in dealing with planning schemes in the area.
Existing situation
It was reported that there exist unplanned settlements. The place has quarries, estates and illegal allocations. After considering the situation, the consultant recommended that those with genuine allocations be compensated and evicted stressing that Phase V is the main entrance to FCC, therefore it should be developed according to plan.
The company recommended that the waste disposal point in the place be relocated because waste site cannot be in a developed area. It gave two waste sites in the northern part of the area in Jibi and Dakwa and two in the southern area Kuchyako and Guabe.
On quarry sites, the consultant called for complete closure of the sites saying they cannot be accommodated. Concerning mass housing projects in the place, it called for their assessment to ensure compliance with the master plan. The consultant advised government to completely hands off AMAC in the management of land there – let Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) take charge.
According to the consultant, it was difficult planning Phase V because the place already has structures on ground – it was not like doing a virgin area.
Issues/suggestions
During question/answer session, observations were made and suggestions added to the plan. For instance, it was suggested that space for green areas be increased. It was said that many structures there were done without consideration for green areas. Some faulted the entry of names of places in the document.
Arterial roads are to be with 55-meter Right of Way (RoW) so as to keep the standards already used in the preceding phases of FCC. The consultant gave 75 meters.
“There should be deliberate effort to take care of storm water,” an engineer warned pointing at flooded areas in the existing phases as example of lack of proper planning.
Attention of the consultant was drawn to its reference to illegal structures in its document because capturing such makes their owners feel they are approved.
It was said attention should be given to the fact that in Abuja, areas designated residential easily become commercial with time – places near commercial areas can easily become commercial even though they are designated residential.
Responding to all this, Ajoge said all concerns were well taken.
Those who made observations about the plan (most of them heads of various departments in FCDA) were advised to write their complaints and submit to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, FCDA for consideration vis-à-vis the provisions in the plan.
At the end, the Director Department of Urban and Regional Planning, FCDA Mr Rahmon Ishola Salami promised that an inter-departmental committee will be set up to look into the proposed plan and deal with questions emanating from it. He described the report as eye opener in the implementation of the Phase V of the city plan. He said, “This is the beginning…we’ll not put the city to shame. The consulting firm has painstakingly done its job.”
Phase V has 15 districts, each to accommodate five neighbourhoods. AMAC Chairman Micah Jiba declined to speak on this matter.