Ebonyi State Ministry Of Capital City And Urban Development Demolishes Building Over Non-Approval From Ministry, Warns Developers
….Seals Kasablanka Lounge ,Receives Report On Collapsed Pentagon Hostel
By Alex Odeh
The Ebonyi State Ministry of Capital City and Urban Development has demolished an ongoing building suspected to be a plaza located at the Azuebonyi axis in Ebonyi local government area of Ebonyi State.
Prior to the demolition, Commissioner for Capital City Developement and Urban Development, Chief Sunday Elechi Inyima, said the ministry had earlier ordered the owner of the building to remove it because the building was sited at the area earmarked for double lane along the Sub Trans-Sharan Highway.
According to Chief Elechi, the building fell into the limit area of the 45 to 60 meters from the middle of the road for the Super Highway. He called on prospective developers to always get building approval from the ministry before the commencement of any building.
Cheif Elechi said, ” There was no approved building plan by the Ministry when the development was still at the foundation level. It has not even gotten to DPC and we told the site engineer to stop work, and of course, we issued them a stop work order and after that stop work order, we further issued them a revocation order and removal order for them to remove it from the foundation. We even confiscated some of their items.
“On the following month, May they came to our office that we should give them those things we confiscated that they will not come to the land again because we told them that this road is Sub Trans Shara Highway and there is a kind of limit you have to give from the middle of the road approximately 45 to 60 meters, and if you check 60 meters from the middle of this road, the whole of this building fell into it. Therefore, it was advisable for us to sto p them, so we did.
“Fortunately, last week, I was going to my routine unscheduled inspection to a man building an industrial estate and to my greatest chagrin, they have not only started the building again, but the building has reached second floor.
“I told my workers with the HOD Town Planning to ask them to stop and remove from the extent they have gone. Very unfortunate, the man wants to confront the government and continued with the building day and night, including Sundays and that is how they were able to get to this extent.
“What we are trying to tell our people is that we are not in a Banana Republic, we live in a state where there is the rule of law in all level. And this should serve as deterrent to all other developers who may try to test the will of government to take caution before they enter any form of development.
“They have to get approval, inspection and supervision from the ministry of Capital City Development and Urban Planning. We cannot allow this because if we do, other people will copy it and before you know it, the capital city will turn into a slum.
In the last exco we held, the Chairman of Exco said we should commence the advertisement of the master plan and if the master plan is anything to go by, then people have to adhere to the rules and regulations”, he said.
The Ministry also sealed Kasablanka Lounge over what it described as causing nusiance to residents living within the environs and by declining invitation by the ministry to address complaints arising from the activities of the lounge.
Earlier the Commissioner also received report from the panel on investigation of the partial collapse block of pentagon hostel at the Alex Ekweme Federal University, Ndufu Alike-Ikwo as presented by the co-chairman, Builder Nwekete Chinasa Jonathan, who represented the Chairman, Engr. Eni Enyinnaya.
Chief Sunday Inyima expressed deep appareciation to the committee for doing a detailed work within the stipulated time and promised to transmit their findings to the Governor for necessary action.
