The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has decried massive return of umbrella markets at Mpape community, following a few days break of demolition of illegal structures in the area.
Mr Ikharo Attah, the Chairman FCTA Ministerial Taskforce on City Sanitation, made statement during an evaluation visit to the area on Sunday in Abuja.
He told residents of the area that the ongoing demolition of illegal structures was work in progress, adding that the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, had mandated the taskforce to ensure total clean up of Mpape.
Attah warned that anybody that would embark on any construction or adjustment work must wait until the operation was over.
He stated that whoever was developing any project in Mpape must go to the FCT Department of Development Control to certify the work and get approval before proceeding.
He vowed that no illegal development and structure would be tolerated because Mpape was a theater of clean up operation.
” We carried out major clean up of shanties and illegal structure, two weeks ago from the very heart of over densely populated Mpape community.
” We have not gotten to 25 per cent of the total clean up operation we are supposed to do but sadly, while we spend the whole of last week doing evaluation of the entirety of the work done across the city as well as going on surveillance inspections.
” I can tell you what we saw at Mpape was not looking good at all. Some person assumed that we are not going to resume demolition, some even carry rumours that the taskforce has been disbanded by the FCT Minister.
” If you look at Mpape now the enormity of illegality that is coming up there are multidimensional. The mobile shanties and massive return of umbrella or canopy markets, particularly in the evening is not good at all.”
Attah said the the taskforce would continue to remove all illegality in area, adding that the operation would touch Bedger Quarry and Panteka market by the roadside which was very disturbing.
” Sadly, they brought back all secondhand building materials to the road but we are going to push them back very strongly.
” To be very candid we have not even properly dress the set back we took and have not look at the old market because that particular one is an eye saw.
” What we saw within the week particularly this weekend shows that it is a bad bleeding points.
” And we spoke to the Bwari Area Council that the market it is a bad bleeding points with no entry point at all. It is very disturbing and with all of this there is still much work to be done.
” Mpape is just beginning and we are not going to issue special notice again like we did in the past. It is an ongoing operation so there is no need for new notice.
” We told people to vacate but many of them refused and even those that we removed their shanties have fully return trying to do whatever they can do,” Attah said.
