DTHA FROWNS AT ERECTION OF STREET GATES WITHOUT GOVT APPROVAL

The Delta State House of Assembly Committee on Lands, Surveys and Urban Development has condemned the erection of street gates in major towns and cities of the stste without government approval.

 
The Committee’s Chairman, Honourable  Ruben Izeze, disclosed  this at a sitting with the Ministry of Lands, Surveys and Urban Development, led by the Commissioner, Mr Churchill Amagada, at the State Assembly Assembly Complex, Asaba.

Honourable Izeze said it was wrong for individuals to illegally barricade streets constructed by government, noting that most of the barricades were serious burdens to other road users as sometimes nobody was available to open the gates in emergency situations.

He enjoined the ministry to look into the issue and come up with a solution, promising continued collaboration with the ministry in the delivery of its mandate to Deltans.

The Lawmaker said the meeting was to appraise the activities of the ministry since the 2020 budget was passed, and to fashion out how best to implement government policies and programmes.

Some members of the Committee including, Honorables Ferguson Onwo, Emomotimi Guwor and Shedrack Rapu raised concerns over the absence of approved Master Plans for major cities in the state, many years after creation.

The Commissioner for Lands, Surveys and Urban Development, Mr. Churchill Amagada said the Ministry never gave approval to any individual or group to erect street gates on public roads

While promising to holistically handle the matter, the Commissioner called on the House Committee to assist in checking the trend.

Mr.Amagada told the Lawmakers that the ministry was making progress in fine tuning the Master Plan for the state initiated by previous administration, which he said would serve as a development blueprint for government.

The Commissioner confirmed that there was no approved Master Plan for all major towns in the state, disclosing that the ministry was using regulations and standards as guides in the absence of Master Plans.

Mr Amagada said the Ministry was in the process of establishing a land bank for the state to facilitate investors’ access  to land for their investments.

 
He said the ministry would continue to pull down buildings and other structures blocking natural water ways, disclosing  that focus of the ministry was on completion of ongoing projects, especially those abandoned.