Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed has ordered the withdrawal of all temporary licenses issued quarry operators in the territory.
Similarly, the minister has also ordered the suspension of the processing of all building plans for areas where quarry activities are on-going.
According to a statement by the chief press secretary to the minister, Muhammad Sule, the minister gave the directives in a meeting with officials of Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) in his office, at the weekend.
The minister directed the FCT Development Control Department to get a list of quarry operators from the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to effectively enforce the removal.
Speaking on the recent re-validation exercise carried out by the Development Control Department, he disclosed that out of the list of the first batch forwarded to his office by the department, nine of the properties seeking re-validation after undergoing integrity test had failed the test.
He directed the Building Inspectorate Division of the department to invigorate action in handling the anticipated flurry of submissions by affected developers of the abandoned projects and added that the database created for the scheme as well as necessary information would be placed on the department’s website with photo clips to enable regular monitoring and update as work progresses on individual sites.
On the issue of demolition, Mohammed said a total of 4,077 illegal structures have been removed at Iddo Sarki, Gosa, Tugge and Sauka villages along the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Expressway (Airport Road) just as 18 illegal structures had also been removed in Jikwoyi District; 57 shanties in Central Business District and 47 illegal shacks in Wuse II District, adding that the exercise would be sustained.
He solicited the cooperation of residents of the FCT to rid Abuja of all illegal structures; reiterating that Abuja remains the window in which the World sees Nigeria and therefore “we cannot afford to fail.”
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