The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • Surveyors, others urged to participate in politics

    President of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Mr. Agele Alufohai, has urged quantity surveyors and other professionals to participate in politics to make the desired change.

    He spoke when the National Executive Council of the institute visited the Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr Ekpo Nta, in Abuja.

    Alufohai, who spoke on A preventative approach to combating corruption: The quantity surveyors dual mandate, said surveyors must lead the way in providing solutions to curbing corruption in the country, especially in the construction sector.

    Alufohai defined development as “getting the right people to spend the government funds to provide goods and services at the right cost in a timely manner.

    He said quantity surveyors should be involved more in infrastructure construction given the nations huge infrastructure gap and the critical importance of assuring value-for-money while procuring infrastructure either through direct government financing or Public-Private Partnerships.

    He said the immediate challenge is to ensure that more quantity surveyors are engaged in infrastructure projects so that corrupt practices and the incidence of project delays and abandonment are drastically reduced.

    Alufohai urged the government, especially anti-corruption agencies such as the ICPC, civil society groups and professional associations to come together to explore how institutions, laws and even policies can be designed so that they are fortified against corruption.

    He tasked civil societies not to wait to see corruption committed but rather engage in studying how processes and procedures in the public and private sectors aid corruption and demand changes wherever required.

  • Housing Scheme: Firm slashes price in Easter promo

    Housing Scheme: Firm slashes price in Easter promo

    Cornerstone Real Estate Limited has reduced the price of its Oregun-Ikeja, Lagos Housing Scheme.

    This is part of the firm’s efforts to enable families and corporate bodies own their homes during Easter, its Chairman, Mr Lanre Okupe, said.

    Tagged: Easter promotional sales, Okupe said his firm would slash N12.5million from the original price of N50million for the first five patrons in Phase II of the project.

    Any allottee that makes an outright payment on any of the units, he said, would enjoy the discount; those that pay 30 per cent deposit and complete the balance within 180 days will qualify for N10m savings.

    Okupe emphasised that individual allottee or corporate organisation that buys four units at the advertised price would get the fifth unit free if they pay 30 per cent deposit and balance within 180 days.

    ‘’All these offer last between yesterday and April 4, this year. It is important to mention that this offer is on a first come, first served basis,’’ Okupe said.

    He added: ‘’Having completed the Phase One of the five-acre Housing Estate Project in Oregun, which comprises 26 units duplexes, terraces and detached houses for outright sale for residential purposes; the Phase II of the construction project at the Oregun site in which the promotional offer encompasses has commenced.’’

    According to him, two units of duplexes are still available for either sale or re-allocation in the Phase One at N85 million each.

    He said: “The duplexes sit on an approximate land area of 350m2-400m2 each, with four bedrooms, all en-suite, while the ground floor space area includes the entrance lobby, foyer, main living room, dinning, kitchen, visitors’ toilet, guest room en-suite.’’

    The first floor space area, Okupe said, include the family lounge with balcony; two bedrooms and the master’s bedroom; all en-suite; spacious living and dining areas with exquisite wood work; well-finished wardrobes and kitchen cabinet; P.O.P. ceiling and stainless steel aluminum railings among others.

    ‘’The on-going Phase II comprises 14-unit houses; two three-bedroom detached house with one room Boys’ Quarters at N90 million each; six four- bedroom semi-detached house with one room Boys’ Quarters at N85 million each and six three-bedroom terrace house at N75 million,” Okupe said.

    Each of these houses, Okupe said, has infrastructure, such as road; drainage; perimeter fence; borehole water and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) 500KVA transformer, including internal reticulation.

    He said his company has been delivering houses to Nigerians for over 25 years with over 10 housing estates and other major projects to its credit.

    “We are recipients of Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) Annual Best Construction Company Award (2005); Honours Award for Valuable Contribution to the Building Industry in Nigeria by Lagos State Branch of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), 2003 and Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce Award presented at the Business Forum Seminar (2002).

    Other awards include recognition for outstanding contribution by a corporate body in urban project execution presented by Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Physical Planning on World Habitat Day 2001 and winner of the Most Admired Estate Developers of the Year Award 2000 presented by the Chartered Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (CIMN),” Okupe said.

  • Lagos gives squatters 30-day quit notice

    Lagos gives squatters 30-day quit notice

    In pursuit of its megacity status, Lagos State Government is clearing slums, especially those on the drainage channels and right of way.

    Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello, has visited a colony of illegal squatters in Babs Animashaun occupants, Surulere, Lagos Mainland and given them 30 days to quit as they “constituted a nuisance”.

    But their leader, Seriki Hausa wa of Surulere, Mallam Isa Muhammed, said they have lived in the area for over 40 years, though in contravention, and pleaded for leniency because “we have nowhere else to go.”

    Salisu Dahiru (not real name) had lived in Ijora, precisely the area demolished late last month for over 30 years. He was brought by his uncle from Kano to Lagos. And since then he had not lived elsewhere, but the expansive slum of Ijora. And when the bulldozers of the Task Force of the Ministry of the Environment came to destroy everything in sight, Dahiru lost all he had as he had nowhere to move his belongings to. His wife and three kids had to take refuge elsewhere, leaving their bread winner to salvage all he could from the ruins of the raging machine.

    So many others like him suffered a similar fate. They had lived as illegal ‘aliens’ in their fatherland. Not that they were not welcome in Lagos, but where they chose to settle constitute a serious threat to lives of so many residents of the state. They live in colonies, as it were, plying their trade oblivious of the havocs their presence brings to the environment and the drainage system in the state.

    Illegal ‘colonies’ seem to exist almost everywhere in Lagos State making its government to step up its urban renewal and channellisation programme to rejuvenate it. The Otumara village in Constain and Ijora Badia has also been asked to leave to make way for the ongoing rebranding,renewal and channellisation programmes to complement the beautification of the Constain and Iganmu areas, which have landmarks such as the National Theatre and the Nigeria Brewery Plc.

    Mr Bello said the Otto creek shanties and its dwellers would be expelled to make room for the ongoing construction connecting the drain between Ilu –Eri and the Brewery. He said the channels would have to be cleared to bring relief to residents of Tejuosho, Apapa, Iponri and Olaleye areas.

    At Adelabu area in Surulere, behind an elitist school, Fountain Heights Secondary School, the Commissioner scolded the community of over 2,000 inhabitants including women and children, on why they warded off and fought the government officials sent to give them eviction notice to allow for the construction of channels and drainage to check flooding in Surulere, which has been a yearly occurrence due to the activities of these people.

    Speaking to The Nation on the consequences of their actions to the state and Surulere residents in particular, Bello said he has issued the 30-day eviction notice for them to find alternative and decent accommodation to live before the rains.

    He said: “ The canal is silted due to the actions of these illegal squatters in the colony, we cannot go to the PHCN pylon because it is very dangerous. That is why we need to divert the construction of our channels to ease the movement of storm water and also accommodate heavy flooding, which usually comes with heavy rain.”

    He decried the unwholesome activities of these illegal settlers who claim to have lived there for over 40 years and had to build on drainage channels causing havoc to residents of Adelabu and Femi Oyetunga areas.

    Bello threatened to demolish their shanties at the end of the month. Irked by their affront to constituted authority, he said he is seriously disturbed at their temerity to flaunt the government’s directives when officials of his ministry earlier visited to serve them notice they threatened and chased them away.

    But their leader, Seriki Hausa wa Surulere, Mallam Isa Muhammed, pleaded with the government to give them more time to relocate, insisting that they have always known Adelabu, Surulere location as their home. He said he was not aware of the havoc their continued stay in the area caused the neigbourhood before now.

    At the Ansar-Udeen Grammar School, Surulere, the school’s principal, Mr Badru Habeeb, revealed that his students have not been able to use the field in the last four years.

    Bello said to de-flood the school, 300m length of 1.5 metre x 1.5 metre retaining wall would be constructed with 300 metres length high sand-crete blocks.

    Talking about the socio-economic importance of the de-flooding, Bello said it would arrest erosive threats of storm water to building structures and also ensure conducive learning environment in the school when the rains fully come.

    He said the dredging and improvement of drainage all over the state is to improve economic and social status of residents and improve their economic well-being.He warned traders to improve on the sanitation of their markets, insisting that the closed Ladipo market in Mushin Local Government of the state would not be opened until the traders comply with government regulations.

  • Mimiko hails architects for Ondo’s urban renewal efforts

    Governor Olusegun Mimiko has said he deliberately engaged architects in his efforts to beautify Akure, the Ondo State capital, because of their eyes for aesthetics and to correct the metropolis’disorderliness.

    He spoke during the Institute of Architects’ quarterly dinner and investiture at the Government House Ground, Akure.

    The governor said his administration’s urban renewal strategy was based on his experience as a minister while working with renowned architects at the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

    He said: “Architects are wonderful and special people. They are the best visioners, while other professionals just actualise their visions. Architects conceptualise something, which is hitherto not in existence, and create it in physical form that will be admired by all.

    “They are not only scientists, but artists, whose contributions have made very significant contributions to the modest achievements of our administration in the last four years.”

    Mimiko said his urban renewal programme centred on the majority of the people because they desired a cleaner environment to live and do business to avoid any form of disease.

    He said he is determined to touch and add values to the lives of the people with his programmes and policies aimed at fighting generational poverty.

    To simplify access to land and building approvals, the governor said his administration had created a bureau comprising professionals, who are major stakeholders in real estate development.

    The team, according to him, will carry out one-stop processing of all papers relating to approval for Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).

    The governor said residents were pleased with his urban renewal programme even when some of their houses had to be demolished in the process.

    He explained that his administration made it a duty to pay adequate compensation to owners and occupants of buildings marked for demolition whether they had approved plans or not, before rolling out the bulldozers.

    He said occupants of houses marked for demolition were happy with the efforts of his government to create a dual-carriage way within Akure town aimed at decongesting Oba Adesida and Oyemekun roads.

    He said: “This was so because owners of the affected buildings were carried along in the entire project from conception and they were adequately compensated, while their tenants and shop owners were also paid to relocate.”

    The completion of the project, he said, had improved of Akure’s aesthetics and increased the values of buildings in the area.

    The Dome project, the governor said, would be completed before the end of the year. The project, according to him, would be the biggest in-door capacity hall in Nigeria,

    Earlier, the National President, Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA), Mr Ibrahim Haruna, said the urban renewal efforts of the governor had turned Akure into wonderful scenery, beautiful and constantly eliciting smiles from happy residents.

  • A floating school for Makoko

    A floating school for Makoko

    •UN agency, others team up to reshape slum community

    With 250,000 residents, Makoko, a Lagos slum community, lacks some basic necessities of life. There are no good schools, hospitals, roads and potable water. This, among other reasons, was why the government demolished illegal structures there in July, last year. To make the people live a decent life, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and some other foreign agencies have unveiled a model floating structure to serve as school for the community. OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE reports.

    Makoko community, a riverine slum on the Adekunle-Yaba axis in Lagos,

    is about to breath a new lease of life. The state of the environment of the community, which has been in existence for almost 400 years, is anything but human. It lacks everything that makes for human existence and habitation.

    Water, which is considered a basic necessity of life, is absent; there’s no health centre, nor toilet facilities. The inhabitants dump faeces indiscriminately around their living quarters. The only school in the community holds only 187 pupils. The majority of the other children of school age, engage in other menial commercial activities, such as fishing, hawking and trading of all sorts.

    But, a firm of architects and builders -NLE, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), African Adaptation programme, a UN agency and Hencrich Boll, thought of building a school to uplift the standard of living of the inhabitants. The ‘floating school’ building can withstand the vagaries of nature in the locality and is suitable for human habitation.

    The founder of NLE’ and promoter of the project, Mr Kunle Adeyemi, an architect and developer of cities, told The Nation that he got his inspiration from the Makoko community itself after observing that the community can be self-sufficient if it is supported and assisted. He said the building, designed in triangular form, floats on water, scalable to soothe different purposes and is also made to adapt to weather conditions and different types of wind.

    He said all materials are made in local technology to soothe the life style of the people. On the challenge of solid waste management and drinkable water, Adeyemi said, they will employ rain water harvesting, recycle organic waste, while solid waste will be collected at a central point and disposed. Currently, no toilet exists anywhere in the community, the sea acts as the waste collector. He encouraged the state government to support the initiative, adding that it is cheaper to build on water. He said the project will improve the livelihood and sustain the people’sexistence in the area.

    The Country Director, UNDP, Ms. Ade Mamonyane Lekoetje, noted they gave their support in terms of technical know-how and funding due to the importance of the project to what UNDP stands for globally. She said: “It is the dream of every child to go to school and this will provide the opportunity. The community that has lived on water for generations also wants to be left alone in their ancestral waters to keep their ways of life, but in a much more improved way.”

    She explained that the school is able to float and so can confront flooding and mitigate the effects of climate change on the people so their style of living is greatly preserved. “We are funding managers with experience in technology,” she added.

    Lekoetje also said the school will be provided with solar panels and every other thing needed to make it functional.

    On whether the project could stand the test of time, escaping the demolition throes of the state government, she said, UNDP is looking forward to working with government in this noble venture, noting that the attendance of the members of the community proves that they wholly welcome the project.

    Programme Officer, UN-Habitat, Mr Paul Okunlano, commended the project and rallied support for it. He said: “A community of 250,000, whose children have attributes of a sustainable existence with a good school, hospitals and homes should be encouraged. If the government decides to relocate them, they should also provide for them technologically stable and a mobile life style which is attune with their culture.

    The community leader, Chief Francis Adoion, said they wholly welcome the project as it will greatly impact positively on them, especially the children who will have opportunity of going to school. He expressed fears that the state government may come back with their bulldozers as they did last year, but pleaded with them to rethink as they have lived there for generations. But he said his hopes were raised with the presence of international agencies, such as UNDP and UN-Habitat that are concerned with human settlement and habitation all over the world.He praised his people for coming out en-masse to support the project.

    The Head teacher of Whanyinna Nursery and Primary school,the only one in the communityof over 250,000 people,Mr Shemede Noah, said the school has a population of 187 students with nine teachers. He commended the idea of the floating school, staying it will help attract a lot of children to school.

    He said living on water is part of their culture and existence, adding that was also born and bred on water. Noah pleaded with the government to encourage the project and forget the idea of demolishing the community. According to him, they have more of volunteer teachers and he in particular teaches mathematics, economics and home economics to the children.

    A representative from the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change Department, Mr Maximus Ugwoke, commended the project, assuring that the ministry will study the scenario and respond as time progress.

  • ‘Gender not barrier to women builders’ success’

    Gender is not an impediment for women in the building profession to attain success, the President of the Association of Professional Women Builders in Nigeria (APWBN), Mrs. Lami Kawu Mohammed, has said.

    She spoke at the Second General Meeting/Lecture of the association, held in Ikeja, Lagos.

    Mrs Mohammed charged female builders to face the challenges of the profession. She said gender is not a barrier to excellence, adding the goal of APWBN is to project the image and ameliorate the status of women builders by getting involved in nation building.

    “We want to ensure that female builders are engaged in construction planning, project management, facility management and feasibility studies because we have the skill and manpower,” she said.

    She said the association scheduled the meeting to Lagos to rally support from their senior colleagues and to encourage the younger ones.

    President of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) Mr Chuks Omeife praised women builders’ courage to subdue obstacles, which had prevented them from competing favourably with their male counterparts.

    Omeife said: “The coming on board of APWBN is a welcome development, a plus for the institute and a veritable vehicle for creating additional awareness and especially changing the public perception of the building profession as a profession only for the men folks, though some of us feel it is a bit belated.”

    He maintained that the importance of a builder cannot be overemphasised and urged the government to provide compelling laws to penalise offenders.

    Mrs. Zainab Bolarinwa in her presentation tagged: Professional women and national development; women builders as reference, urged everyone to take the bull by the horn and be ready for the task ahead.

    Laying emphasis on women as home builders saddled with more responsibilities than men, she encouraged members to work harder in order to surpass their male counterparts in the profession. She urged them not to be intimidated by gender factor, but show their competence when it comes to service delivery.

    Some members of the associations challenged their leaders to organise career seminars, which can attract females, especially university and polytechnic undergraduates, to venture into the profession as there are several opportunities in the field.

  • Can Lagos climate summit mitigate global warming effects?

    When on July 10, 2011, a 16-hour rain fell in Lagos, lives and properties were lost. This was followed by the storm of February 13, last year that also destroyed properties. The destructive wind, with a speed hovering around 75km and 100 km, destroyed homes; 49 public schools; one administrative building and killed nine pupils when a boat conveying them to school capsized. Curiously, the rainstorm occurred in the middle of February, a month not usually associated with such an extreme weather condition. It was an ominous sign of climate change. February, in this part of the world is usually a period of harmattan, when the cold northeastern wind blows across sub-Saharan Africa.

    When Lagos State held its maiden climate change summit in 2009, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola said: “Gone are the days when we could succinctly draw a line between the rainy and dry seasons; gone are the days when harvest was predictable and bountiful; gone are the days when select species of certain fish were readily available on the menu table.”

    Last year, the country was virtually overran by flood, but Lagos was spared-perhaps because of the year–round, state-wide anti-flooding programme embarked upon by the government.

    With the stage set for the Fifth Lagos Climate Change Summit, holding from March 13 to 15 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, stakeholders and experts will rub minds on how to tackle’s, the adverse effect of climate change and flooding.

    The theme of the summit is: Vulnerability and adaptability to Climate Change in Nigeria: Lagos State transportation, housing and infrastructure in focus.

    The previous ones were held between March 24 and 26, 2009; May 4 and 7, 2010; February 8 and 10, 2011 and April 12 and 14, 2012.

    While the 2009 edition’s theme was: “Reclaiming the Environment: Challenges and Consequences of Climate Change” the 2010 edition discussed: “Trans-boundary Effects of Climate Change.” The 2011 summit focused on: “Charting a Road Map for Combating Climate Change in Nigeria,” while last year’s event had as its theme: “Vulnerability and Adaptability to Climate Change in Nigeria: Lagos State Agriculture, Industry and Health Sectors in Focus.”

    Like last year’s, the event organisers say the forthcoming edition will examine vulnerability and adaptability, which are crucial to global warming.

    Emphasis, however, may be on transportation, housing and infrastructural development; aspects considered high priority for Lagos to attain its much desired megacity status.

    From past events have emerged recommendations, which upon implementation, helped to advance the state’s adaptation and mitigation capabilities to the impact of climate change. For instance, a couple of years ago, the government declared July 14 of every year as Tree Planting Day. It came under a programme aimed at planting millions of trees to beautify Lagos and provide a carbon sink.

    Five million trees have been reportedly planted, while the state has established the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) to beautify and regenerate the environment from the effect of climate change, in the light of the intensity of global warming that is threatening the entire ecosystem.

    The agency’s effort at establishing gardens and parks all over Lagos has placed it among the notable green cities in the world. All the local government councils and local development areas have been mandated to create parks and gardens.

    To address the problem of flooding arising from the increasingly high rainfall pattern, the state has committed to grow the scope and capacity of existing drainage channels in the city and construct new ones. Such channels are also being lined with concrete.

    Described as a climate change adaptation strategy, the Eko Atlantic City project has also been embarked upon by the state to protect the Bar Beach shoreline from the periodic ocean surges and coastal erosion. “Eko Atlantic City’s Great Wall’ has brought back the coastline of Victoria Island to where it was a century ago before coastal erosion washed it away,” said the Environment Commissioner, Tunji Bello.

    He added: “As a pro-active government, Lagos State Government has devotedly implemented its resolution at these summits in the areas of intensive advocacy, annual massive tree planting exercises, and construction of effective drainage channels to contain flood, improved waste management, recycling programmes, and exploration of renewable energy sources, among others.”

  • Lagos completes housing estate’s first phase

    The first phase of the 11-storey Isale Gangan residential scheme in Lagos Island began four years ago has been completed.

    Governor Babatunde Fashola, who visited the site, said the project’s completion was a relief because of fear of structural instability raised by some people.

    The building was piled to secure the structural stability of the houses, because of the terrain. About 200 piles have been sunk – some of them as deep as 27 metres. The 54-flat housing project is meant to renew the historic Isale-Gangan in the central part of Lagos Island.

    The houses, being constructed by Anatolia International Limited, would have 36 two-bedroom flats and 18 three-bedroom flats. They are designed to incorporate two floors for parking; two lifts; staircases and escape staircases among other features.

    The governor, accompanied by the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, and other members of his cabinet was conducted round the project by the Managing Director of the construction company, Mr Chahid Raffoul.

    Fashola praised “the construction competence” of the contractor.

    He said: “You can see the type of construction, the type of piling, over 200 piles already here and more to come. There are piles that have gone as deep as 27 metres here and you can see the width and diameter, so you can see this is a building that cannot collapse.”

    He assured that his administration would not be deterred by the challenges ahead in its drive to deliver the project.

    “There are challenges ahead before the project is completed, no doubt, but the important thing is that it has moved from a dream to a plan and from a plan to reality. The race to the finish it is quite challenging, but we are not looking back. And as we work pile after pile, track after track, beam of steel after beam of steel, you can be sure we will deliver the project,” he assured.

    The Governor said the area has suffered buildings’ collapse in the past. This according to him, created an opportunity for his administration to renew the area and put solid residential structures in place.

    Some of the developments in the area in the past, he said, were done during the “developers’ era,” when foundations came up in the night and five years later the building would collapse.

    He said the place would be a residential home for all of the families who own small pieces of land in the vicinity. “Each of them now has an apartment here instead of the small piece that cannot contain a house. We have helped them to merge into this very big space so their lands are now in the vertical space,” he said.

    “We have relocated them to Ipaja so that after the completion of this project those who want to return can do so, but those who do not want to return can let theirs out. But each family that owns land here has already been resettled. These are some of the resettlement schemes that we do that we do not make too much noise about; but the beneficiaries know it and they understand it.”

  • SURE-P funds for roads, other projects, says govt

    THE Federal Government has found a solution to the delay in completion of roads and insfrastructure.

    It is using funds from the Subsidy Reinvestment Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) to facilitate their completion.

    Works Minister, Mike Onolememen said funds for the completion of the dualisation of the Lokoja-Benin Expressway would come from SURE-P.

    Speaking during the flag off of the dualisaton of Okene-Auchi and Obajana junction-Okene road, he said the project was initially constrained by inadequate budgetary provision until SURE-P was established.

    He said: “SURE-P has injected the much-needed funds required for the completion and I am optimistic that the project will be fully realised by march 2014.

    “The ministry of works followed a rigorous competitive tender that saw the emergence of Messr Mothercat Nigeria Limited for section 11: Okene-Auch road, as the contactor now saddled with the responsibility of actualising the dream.

    “When this dream is completed, President Goodluck Jonathan would have delivered on his promise to link the six geopolitical zones with dual carriageways, and with the availability of funds, it is expected that this project will be completed in the next 30 months.

    “To this end, we call upon the traditional institution and the good people of Edo and Kogi State to give the contactor all the neccesary support for the full realisation of this project,” he stressed.

    Onolememen said the challenge is for the contactors and the supervisory team to do everything within their professional powers to actualise the project.

    In a related development the Federal Government reiterated its commitment to complete the long abandoned Bodo-Bonny road and bridge, necessary for land across to the Nigerian Liquidified Natural Gas (NLNG) Plant across the ocean.

    He gave the assurance when Onolememen received a delegation of the Executive Management Team of the Nigerian Liquidified and Natural Gas in his office, led by the Managing Director, Mr Babs Omotowa.

    The Minister reiterated that Nigerian Liquidified and Natural Gas (NLNG) is an important depository of the hydro-carbon elements in the country, which requires road and bridge infrastructure positive implication for Nigerian socio-economic growth.

    He acknowledged that NLNG is a partner for infrastructural development in the country and pledged the preparedness of the government to deliver on its promises.

    Earlier, Mr Omotowa commended the Federal Government for its several interventions on the road sector.

  • Govt, World Bank to tackle erosion in Edo

    THE Federal Government may have found a way round the lingering problem of gully erosion in Edo State.

    In collaboration with Edo State and the World Bank, it has initiated the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) to tackle the problem.

    Officials of the World Bank, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Federal Ministry of Environment and international and national consultants are in Edo State for Joint Technical Mission geared towards NEWMAP’s implementation.

    The World Bank team has visited some gully sites to determine the scope of work in each site in line with the engineering designs.

    The sites are in Queen Ede, Ekehuan in Benin City; Ewu in Esan Central Local Government Area and Auchi in Etsako West Local Government Area. The Auchi site is said to be one of the most devastating.

    The team was taken round the sites, by NEWMAP’s Edo State Project Coordinator, John Adisa.

    Declaring the mission open in Benin City, the Permanent Secretary, Edo State Ministry of Environment and Public Utilities, Major Lawrence Loye (rtd) said Governor Adams Oshiomhole was desirous of finding a lasting solution to gully erosion, which has destroyed lives and properties in Queen Ede, Ekehuan, Ewu, Ibore and Auchi.

    Loye, represented by the Director of Administration and Supplies, Mrs Patience Otoighile, expressed hope that the tripartite arrangement would restore life to the affected communities.

    World Bank representative and Task Team Leader for NEWMAP Dr Amos Abu said having gone round the gully sites, the team was touched by the people’s suffering.

    Abu said the mandate of the project was to ensure that residents of gully sites received intervention to enable them to live in comfort and safety, adding that the World Bank endorsed the project in May last year while the National Assembly approved it last December.

    According to him, the workshop was to finalise the Project Implementation Manual which would provide a guide to stakeholders and also finalise the engineering designs and convert same to bidding documents.

    The NEWMAP National Coordinator, Mr Chikelo Nwune, enjoined the participants to work assiduously to ensure a timely take-off of the project.