Ebonyi seals houses built on park-designated areas

The Ebonyi state government says it has sealed off some buildings in Abakaliki built on areas designated as parks and recreational centres in the city’s master plan.

Special Assistant to the state governor on Parks Development, Mr. Emmanuel Igwe, disclosed this in an interview, adding that such buildings deface the city’s environment.

Igwe said that in town planning, certain areas are designated as parks and recreational centres where people could relax, but some individuals contravene such building codes.

“We applied to evict the occupants of such buildings and not only evicting them, they will also pay rents to the government. That is why we are telling them to relocate on their own because if they don’t, we will pull-down their buildings at their own cost

“They will not only pay rents for the number of years in question, but they will also pay for the cost of demolishing the buildings,” he said.

The governor’s aide acknowledged that some criminal elements must have sold the lands to the affected persons, adding that such persons should have made necessary checks on such lands, especially at the state ministry of lands.

“We will also in addition to getting those who built the houses also get those who sold the lands to them

“The state government will not pay compensation to them but they will instead, pay fines to the government for defacing the environment,” he said.

Reacting to the development, state Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Mr. Moses Oshibe, stated that he is yet to receive the full details of the sealing off of the said buildings.

“I have asked Igwe to bring me his source of information in order to commence my investigation and I have already alerted the state surveyor general on the issue.

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“I will brief you properly after the investigations which will be conducted swiftly because of the fate of the sealed buildings,” he said.

The commissioner said that there were laws guiding building activities in the state, saying that after his investigations the relevant laws would be applied on the issue.