By Ben Adoga
As the rains set in again in the nation’s capital, the FCT authorities in a proactive measure to avert loss of lives due to flooding, on Thursday cleared over 400 illegal houses in the Gwarimpa area of Abuja.
The over 400 illegal structures were part of the illegal conversion of corner shops to residential buildings and those constructed on waterways.
Recall that on a yearly bases this area of the nation’s capital experienced deadly flooding due to infractions to the FCT Master Plan. To avert recurrence, a team from the Department of Development Control in collaboration with the FCT Taskforce on City Sanitation stormed the area and affected the clearance.
Director, Development Control Department, Mukhtar Galadima, who spoke to some journalists at the venue, lamented the poor hygiene situation of the area and said wastes were being released directly into the stream and this is a time bomb waiting to explode.
According to him, “This place you are seeing are not supposed to have houses, they were corner shops but people have converted them to residential abode. We have over 400 shops that were converted to residential buildings.
“We are working with Federal Housing Authority, we had some discussions with them on how to convert it into a modern mall but for now the thing that is called corner shops is not being used for that particular purpose, it is used as residential buildings. And when you look at the number of people staying here, the hygienic condition and sanitation here are zero, so for safety reasons, it is, better to remove them.
“We gave them over a month’s notice, I remember we came here for sensitization and we marked these structures. When you go round you see the markings on the wall.”
He decried the fact that people built on waterways, “What we are trying to do is to recover the flood plain within Gwarinpa. People built on waterways. The area is not properly planned because they are just discharging their waste directly to the stream. And this could be a source of the epidemic, so it is a time bomb waiting to explode. If we don’t take action immediately the consequences will be unimaginable.
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring Inspection and Enforcement to the Minister of FCT, Ikahro Attah, said he was shocked at the level of illegality in that area,
“I am very surprised at the level of illegality here, people decided to build on waterways, constructing on stream making this area of Gwarinpa prone to flooding.
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“They even pushed the stream to a point that if there is heavy rain there will be massive flooding and this is a disaster waiting to happen. Very sad here, the FCTA through Federal Capital Territory, Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, and other component agencies had given a warning, the Federal Government had given warning through the water resources, NIMET also warned against impending flooding. But people decided to build on the floodplains.
“The FCTA is committed to ensuring lives are not lost as a result of flooding.”
He lamented, “Not even one soak away in the whole community, once they defecate, urinate everything comes straight to the stream, they cannot dig soak away because it is a water bed. Once anyone defecates in his house it comes to the stream and that is an epidemic a disaster that is waiting to happen. We are also trying to prevent flooding so that when the rain comes, it will have a wider flood plain to pass through.”
