*Estate
surveyors offer solutions
The House of
Representatives yesterday set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the recent
flooding in Lagos and Niger states. Consequent upon a motion by Abubakar
Lado
(APC, Niger), the special committee is to meet with relevant government
ministries and agencies with a view to avoiding a recurrence.
Lado was
specific on the flooding in Suleja and urged members to observe a minute
silence for the 40 persons who lost their lives in the incident.He further
claimed that about 400 houses were destroyed in the process.
Lado said
there was need for the House Committees on Special Duties and Internally
Displaced Persons (IDP) to pay an urgent visit to Suleja for an on-the-spot
assessment.
House
Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, who said he had planned to raise a similar motion
regarding the devastating effects of the recent flooding in parts of Lagos
State, urged the chamber to be proactive in legislating for proper town and
environmental planning.
According to Guardian, He called on
the Federal Government to assist the state government in tackling the perennial
menace. Gbajabiamila said: “It is time for us to assist the state. Lagos is
working hard to make sure that these issues are addressed. There is nothing
much the state can do.”
But the
Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, disagreed with those blaming the incidents on
government. He said in the case of Lagos, the flooding occurred due to refusal
by builders to adhere to building codes.
In her
contribution, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (PDP, Abia), urged the House to expand the
scope of the panel to cover Isiukwuato communities in her home state and other
parts of the country affected by same crisis.
However, the
Lagos branch of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers
(NIESV) noted that the disaster would have been averted if there were ocean
level monitoring and disaster alert infrastructure across water bodies within
the metropolis.
At a press
briefing yesterday in the Lagos, the association’s chairman, Olurogba
Orimalade, decried the absence of central sewage treatment and management
systems on the peninsula given the unprecedented land reclamation and
development at the Lekki corridor.
He posited
that the axis was the fastest developing area in Africa, advising government to
be proactive and proffer urgent solutions to the rapid urbanisation and
un-monitored private investments in the city.
To avert
future reoccurrence, NIESV urged government to take a total assessment of drainage
paths and commence building of new canals and channels designs as well as
provide central sewage systems and infrastructure to stem the tide of
underground pollution on the peninsula.
0 Comments