By Stanely Onyekwere
The Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) has alerted residents of Katampe Extension over a disaster waiting to happen, following massive environmental degradation taking place in the adjoining Dawaki District, due to illegal construction works in the area.
Describing the development as monumental life threatening, AMMC disclosed that there is no official approval for the land allocation and commencement of engineering works in the area, sharing border with the vastly developed and developing Katampe Extension, one of the highbrow residential areas of the nation’s capital city.
However, the Council while noting that it has ordered for the immediate stop of the construction works, which contravenes the city’s laws and regulations, vowed to investigate and prosecute those involved in causing the looming havoc in the area.
According to the AMMC Coordinator, Umar Shuaibu, who raised the alarm, during a visit to the area, said said the government is going subject to place to special investigation, to ensure that the culprits will be made to answer for the illegal development there.
Shuaibu, who was accompanied by directors of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Department of Development Control, Urban and Regional Planning as well as Outdoor Advertisement and Signage (DOAS), also cautioned the public to ensure due diligence, before investing their money in real estate in the city, to avoid heartbreaks.
According to him: “There signage marketing plots for sale with promise of 10% discount, with false description of this part of Dawaki as Katampe Extension. This will deceive unsuspecting subscribers, who will be thinking there is a building approval, as the plots are already been sold.
“But, the massive environmental degradation that is taking place in this part of Dawaki District as captured in the layout, it is a disaster in waiting, so the construction work here is going on illegally, and henceforth, we have stopped the work.
“And we are going to subject this place to special investigation, to ensure that any culprit will be made to answer for it. We are definitely going to prosecute whoever is wrecking this havoc. That’s why we are here, to make sure that we enforce our laws and regulations in all development in this city.
“So, the general public must be aware that whatever that is happening here is illegal and whoever has already purchased any land here, should request for refund, otherwise the money invested is going to be lost”.
