Minister charges FCT Townplanners to protect Abuja Master Plan

The Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Ramatu Aliyu, has warned against moves that could lead to a deviation from the territory’s masterplan, The PUNCH reports.

Mrs. Aliyu made this known during the investiture ceremony of the 14th chairperson of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, FCT chapter, Mrs. Lami Ayuba, in Abuja on Tuesday night.

The acting-Director, Resettlement and Compensation Department, FCTA, Mr. Nasir Sulaiman, who spoke on behalf of the minister, emphasised the need to sustain the FCT masterplan, noting that town planners have an important role to play.

The national president NITP, Nathaniel Atebije called on planners to be courageous, while encouraging them to imitate Mrs. Ayuba.

The newly-inaugurated chairperson, Mrs. Ayuba said, “The FCT is among the well planned cities in Nigeria. From inception, the Abuja masterplan provided a blueprint for the development of the FCT. It is very easy to identify the application of planning standards in Abuja some of which include: the separation of different land use zones; separation of building heights and densities; application of building lines and setbacks; location of neighborhood facilities among others.”

Ayuba identified some of the planning problems in FCT such as land grabbing especially within the regional areas, double allocations, fake layouts, overlapping layouts, unapproved developments which later result in eviction or demolition, cloning of land documents, multiple allocations for a single park resulting into various court cases, land use conversations putting pressure on existing facilities and infrastructure and absence of bus stops and lay-bys along intracity road networks, thus creating unnecessary traffic and delays.

She also stated that her vision is to advance the town planning profession and advocate for policies and actions that would address the planning problems in the FCT to make Abuja a liveable and inclusive city.

Source: punchng