FCTA commences weekly demolition illegal structures

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has commenced weekly site inspection and enforcement exercise that would culminate into demolition of illegal structures across the territory.

Director, Department of Development Control, Tpl Mukhtar Galadima disclosed this Tuesday, while conducting some journalists on inspection of project sites in Guzape, Asokoro, Katampe Extension districts and National Assembly Quarters, Apo.

Galadima posited that many developers took advantage of the lockdown period to carry out illegal developments, by either building without approvals or building above approved number of units as well as arbitrary change of land use.

His words: “I can attribute what you are saying to the unfortunate incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic because most of these deviations have occurred during this period of lockdown.”

According to him, the authorities would deal with each contravention based on its uniqueness: “And from what I have seen, it is either we condone or we condemn the contraventions.

“Those we cannot condone, we apply appropriate sanctions; either it is for the payment of contravention charges where it is necessary and as approved by the authority, or where it is not, we remove them (illegal structures) automatically.

“We could also subject such contraventions to certain parameters, including paying for the whole value of that building to government. And for us to do that, we also have to check these parameters in terms of parking adequacy, plot coverage and density of the area.

“At the end of the day, if we find out that these parameters are in agreement, then the developer is surcharged to pay the value of the property put on ground.”

Describing the Guzape and Katampe Extension developments as “impunity and flagrant abuses of building regulations,” Galadima regretted that the developers had almost completed building eight units on each site, instead of the four units approved by the authorities.

In the case of Asokoro, the Development Control boss said: “We were in Asokoro because of the past experience where somebody tried to modify what was approved for residential to hotel development. That’s why we have been careful and cautious.

“The development adjoining that area, we have to be careful, that is why we are monitoring it from the excavation stage on a daily basis, to make sure they do not short-change the authority and become nuisance to the society.

The director, who was visibly angry over total disregard for quit and stop work notices by a developer who carried on unperturbed inside the National Assembly Quarters, Apo, ordered that the property, a major expansion of a residential building without any approvals, be demolished within 24 hours.

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