The menace of illegal structures all over Anambra State has become of huge concern, and government has resolved to deal with the nuisance posed by these unapproved shacks. A sustainable Clean and Green Anambra can only be guaranteed by removing the odious presence of the illegal structures on the roads, streets, drainages, parks, playgrounds and waterways. The drive for complete urban regeneration cannot continue to be desecrated by these almost ubiquitous structures.
Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, is determined to put a permanent stop to the impunity of illegal structures in his bid to ensure a pleasurable and prosperous homeland. It is, therefore, incumbent on those putting up illegal structures to remove them or they will be compelled to pay for the removal if the government does that.
From the colonial times, our towns and cities were well planned and paved in conformity with contemporary urban planning at that time. In the course of time, some irresponsible people undertook the nefarious task of undoing the well-laid plans with recklessly erection of shops in front of their buildings and on the gutters. Some in their greed to grab any available space built houses across the roads and water channels- destroying the original master plan of the streets.
The frenzy to encroach on every available piece of land reached a point where fire-fighting vehicles cannot navigate the easiest alleyways to save a building on fire or for an ambulance to save a person facing health crisis. And because the original sidewalks have been converted to shops, stalls and workshops, human and vehicular traffic now lead to numerous accidents.
The areas allocated for the building of parks in the many markets in the state have been appropriated by ill-assorted land speculators and have been built up. Going to the markets has, thus, become an ordeal. These illegal buildings must give way for the markets to be given a new lease of life.
As the old Igbo proverb goes: if an abnormality is allowed to last for long, it ends up becoming a tradition. Many prospective developers no longer bother to get proper approvals from the requisite authorities before erecting buildings. They break the law with impunity in the belief that they can always sort things out through bribery and corruption. The “man-know-man” syndrome is their stock-in-trade in these untoward transactions.
Governor Soludo has come determined to clean the Augean stable. Anybody caught in the web of building illegal structures must henceforth pay the steep price of having the structures removed or pay government for removing them. In the same vein, government officials who gave the crooked approvals will also answer for their actions even if they have retired from service.
In recent times, we have witnessed the frequent collapse of buildings including at Banana Island in Lagos. Investigations reveal that illegal approvals and non-adherence to directives by authorities concerned to discontinue the construction of ill-conceived structures have been responsible for some of these calamities.
Our cities are already bursting at the seams with mammoth buildings all over the place. The need to bring sanity to them will entail that government moves in with the original plan of the cities in order to restore their prime essence. The people who broke the rules will of course pay the price for their impunity.
It is obvious that illegal structures are some of the reasons for the flooding devastating the state. When drainages are blocked, floodwaters take over the roads and streets. This man-made tragedy cannot be allowed to go on for years on end. It only takes the will for the right order to be restored.
Awka, the state capital, is already leading the charge in the removal of illegal structures so that Anambra can have a befitting capital city. The Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) under the leadership of Ossy Onuko, recently went to work on the illegal structures stretching from the popular UNIZIK
Temporary Site Junction in Awka to the Okpuno section within the capital city. ACTDA had marked the affected structures and facilities for demolition since January, with seven days’ notices given to the owners to vacate the places. As the authors of illegality stayed adamant, ACTDA struck. About 80 shops, residential houses and other structures were removed in the exercise.
The war against illegal structures in Anambra State has started in earnest.
Written by SIR PAUL NWOSU
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