By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
In a bid to restore the Abuja Master plan, the Federal Capital Territory said it has recovered 300 hectares of land to fix Abuja Master Plan and to ad
dress environmental degradation in the Capital Territory.
This was revealed on Thursday at the commemoration of 2023 World Earth day with the theme: “invest in our planet”.
FCTA top officials took turn to speak on the development and sanity of
the nation’s capital, Abuja.
The coordinator Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Umar Shuaibu.
decried ending activities that distort and destroying the Master Plan and called on the residents to stop activities that lead to environmental degradation.
“Illegal felling of trees, building on water channels and road corridors have distort and destroy the plan for development of Abuja” said Shuaibu.
Senior Special Assistant on environment and waste management to the minister of FCT, Tunde Imolehin,
said that the second world earth day celebration in FCT was to sensitize and guide residents on how to dispose off their waste properly in line with this year’s global theme: “Invest in our planet”.
“To make our stay in this planet meaningful, we must invest wisely. We must take proper care of the environment, conserve and preserve the limited resources.”
“The world earth began in 1970 in the United States to highlight the importance of our planet and the conservation of its ecosystems on all continents and oceans. Since then, the world’s attention has been drawn to the challenges facing mankind and the environment and ways to manage them.”
In a presentation, the Director FCT Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima disclosed that over 10,000 illegal structures have been demolished in the last eight years with three hundred hectares of land recovered as the administration’s commitment to restore sanity in the territory.
The move, Galadima said that this move is needed to reverse the norms that have been affecting the officials from restoring the master plan and sanity across the city.
He called for the engagement of Consultant to review the development plan of the city.
Furthermore, Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of FCT on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Ikharo Attah, suggested that the Directorate of Road Traffic Services popularly known as VIO and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) should be carried along as critical stakeholders.
“There are many rickety vehicles, motorcycles emitting smoke that are destroying the ozone layer. Everyone of us must be involved in tree planting and must not be deterred to protect and secure the plants.”
He urged residents not to build on concrete jungles by destroying the green areas.
“The planet is getting very hot , we must start to change the narrative so that our children will not pay for the destruction we are doing to the earth, Ikaro said.
