In a bid to ensure developments in the FCT complied with provisions of the Abuja Master Plan, the FCT Administration’s department of Development Control has disclose that 11,705 illegal structures and shanty colonies were dismantled in 2023.
The Director of the department, Muktar Galadima, who stated this during an end-of-year media parley in his Wuse Zone 6 office, over the weekend, said more than two billion naira was generated by the department within the period.
Galadima said the department also created over thirteen thousand direct and indirect jobs and granted more than one thousand building plan approvals within the same period.
According to him, the department achieved N2,534,673,850.08 revenue generation from January to October, 2023, representing 68.5 percent of the N3.7 billion target given to it department for the year.
As he expressed optimism that his department would hit the target before December, he said:”We are embarking on recovering the bills awarded so that people can pay before end of this year so that we can meet our revenue target.”
The Town Planer explained that the department received 1,765 building plan applications, quickly processed and granted 1,422, thus facilitating the generation of 13,873 direct and indirect jobs on different construction sites across the Territory.
Adding that these achievements were possible due to measures the department put in place to facilitate timely building approvals and efficient monitoring and inspection of developments.
Some of them include formation of one-stop vetting team to treat backlog of files and fast-track building plan approvals for plots in serviced areas and establishment of regional offices to decentralize monitoring and enforcement activities in the area councils and satellite towns.
Others are the constitution of committee on prevention of building collapse in the FCT, which is expected to also proffer preventing modalities, including institutional frame work against building collapse; as well as the creation of post-development audit pilot scheme.
Major activities the department carried out in collaboration with others include removal of structures obstructing waterways at Lugbe, Jahi and Lokogoma which has curtail the hitherto perennial deadly floodings, removal of encroachments on rights of way and security black spots, clearing of shanties and illegal developments in Kabusa, Kasuwadare, Galadimawa, Mabushi and Gudu.
Specking on staff welfare, Galadima revealed that, in addition to monthly medical checks for staff and sporting activities, the department has institutionalized yearly appraisal for itself, during which staff bonding is enhanced and awards are presenting to deserving staff to boost morale and improve productivity.
Most importantly , he said Monthly medical fitness check is being carried out for all staff, and Monthly sporting activities to boost physical fitness of staff.
On major challenges, the Direcror, however, listed some of the department’s challenges which includes: increasing cases of land grabbing, continuous harassment of staff while on duty by security agencies, non-resettlement of indigenous communities, leading to expansion of slums across the city, as well as inadequate and obsolete utility vehicles for monitoring and enforcement.
Other challenges he listed are abandoned buildings, serving as criminal hideouts, non completion of the Phase V Districts Land use plan, non utilization of land after removal of squatter settlements, inadequate office accommodation, and slow adoption to ICT and lack of full automation of activities, among others.
Specking on the prospects of the department for the coming year, the Director said the Department will order development in line with the provisions of the Abuja Master Plan and increase tempo of development as a result of the administrations’ intolerance to land speculation.
He added that the Department will also be efficient in it’s process and reduce the time for granting Building Plan Approval, which will Stimulate developments as a result of increase in Building Plan Approval, leading to the
increase in revenue generation of the Department, and generate more jobs from building plan Approval.
