The Nation Newspaper

Tag: structures

  • Lagos gives ultimatum to owners of illegal structures in Ikoyi, V/I, Lekki

    Owners of illegal structures, shanties, street hawkers and those who have converted walkways into trading points and food courts in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and the Lagoon Front of Lekki got a 14-day notice yesterday to remove their structures

    The Lagos State Government, which gave ultimatum through its Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Tunji Bello, warned that the illegal structures would be removed by the State Special Task Force at the expiration of the ultimatum.

    Bello said the Task Force would move in to clean the areas and the owners arrested for prosecution.

    A statement by the SSG warned: “The owners of all illegal structures, shanties, abandoned buildings and all those who have converted road median to commercial uses in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki have between today (Monday) and two weeks’ time to comply or have the State Special Task Force on the Clean Up of the areas to contend with.”

     

    The statement added that owners of all abandoned buildings in the highbrow areas which are now harbouring prostitutes, illegal miscreants and unwanted elements, must clear the structures of such undesirable elements immediately.

    He warned owners of properties on the Lagoon fronts of Lekki Phase I who have littered the whole areas with compactors and several other deadweight equipments to remove them immediately.

    Bello said the government was concerned about the conversion of the frontages of properties and abandoned houses to kiosks and trading points by maids and guards as well as the unregulated activities of horticulturists, who have turned setbacks to ‘showrooms’.

    He reiterated the determination of the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration to restore the original master plan of Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki, by checking the activities of roadside automobile repairers, who have reduced many dual carriage lanes to single lanes with indiscriminate parking.

    He said the government would no longer tolerate indiscriminate parking of vehicles, trucks, among others on drainage channels, adding that owners of such vehicles and properties with unkempt drainages will be prosecuted.

    Bello said it was totally unacceptable for people to stockpile and display wares such as bags of charcoal on major roads like Ahmadu Bello Way and Federal Secretariat Road, Ikoyi, stating that henceforth, such goods would be confiscated and the owners prosecuted.

    The statement reads: “We are using this medium to sensitise members of the public and residents of the affected areas who are involved in these illegalities to immediately take right action and do the needful as the state government will take the necessary steps to enforce its environmental and sanitation laws forthwith.

    “All those engaging in roadside display of wares, illegal street trading and all illegal squatters on undeveloped land and all those who have converted road median to commercial uses in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki are being advised in their own interest to put a stop to the illegalities.”

  • Nigerdock delivers Total’s Egina FPSO’s first fabricated structures

    Nigerdock delivers Total’s Egina FPSO’s first fabricated structures

    Nigerdock said it has completed the fabrication and sail away of the ‘Flare Tower’ for the  Egina Floating Production, storage and offloading (FPSO) project for Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (TEPNL).

    The FPSO is being developed for deployment in the Egina oil field, located 150km off the coast of Nigeria. The field is currently under development, and production is scheduled to begin in 2018. Nigerdock was selected by Samsung/Total for critical in-country fabrication works and training services as the provider of choice.

    The Flare Tower structure that weighs 732 tonnes was completed on time, loaded out and sailed away on March 24, the company said. It is one of a number of structures fabricated by Nigerdock at its fabrication yard on Snake Island Integrated Free Zone for Samsung Heavy Industries Egina FPSO project. The remaining works will continue through to the first quarter of 2017 as contracted.

    The Project Manager, Emeka Uhara, said: “The fabrication for Egina was a big success being delivered on time and within budget, and to world class specifications. ‘’We have expended over 1.7 million man-hours on the project, and it has helped generate employment for hundreds of Nigerians while also creating the opportunity for the provision of thousands of man-hours of specialised training.”

    The structures completed at Nigerdock’s fabrication yard at Snake Island Integrated Free Zone, Lagos, are a major boost to the Federal Government’s Nigerian Content policy, which seeks to domesticate more oil and gas activities in Nigeria under the guidance of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

  • ‘Structures under high tension cables to go’

    Structures and properties under high tension cables in Lagos State are to go, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development Abiola Anifowoshe said yesterday.

    In a statement, the commissioner said: “Buildings on the Right of Way (RoW) of high tension electricity cables are dangerous, illegal and a source of serious concern to the government”

    Anifowoshe added that conducting business under high tension power lines constituted a danger that could have fatal consequences.

    According to him, the Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010, not only prohibits building under the centre-line of over-head electricity wires, it also in very clear terms specified  the  distance to be observed between a property and a public utility such as the PHCN high tension cables.

    He said: “The state government, through its relevant ministries and agencies will henceforth, enforce the applicable law strictly by removing all development and activities encroaching on the Right of Way of utilities and services.

    “The required setback for buildings from the centre-line of over-head wires and horizontal distance between such buildings of not less than six meters for 11KV wire lines, while nine meters is the recommended distance for 33KV wire lines. Furthermore, the recommended setback for 132KV wire lines is 15 meters, while a 22.5-meter setback is recommended for 330KV power line.

    “Contravention notices have already been served on offending structures. Owners of such structures are therefore urged to remove them within the next seven days. Failure to adhere to the directive would lead to the removal of such structures by government at a cost to be borne by owners, developers or occupiers of such buildings”

     Anifowoshe urged developers to obtain permits before demolishing, renovating or constructing a building, adding that they should also avail themselves of the provisions of the Physical Planning and Development Regulations.

  • Agency to demolish ‘illegal’ structures at Ariaria

    A committee set up by the Abia State Government to restore the master plan of major markets, including Ariaria International Market in Aba, has said it will soon being demolition of illegal structures in the market.

    The Chairman of the state’s Market Development Committee, Solomon Nwaigwe, who addressed reporters in Aba solicited the corporation of traders and shop owners for the proposed remodelling of the market.

    The chairman decried the level of decay in the market, saying its perennial flooding reflected the attitude of the traders who he accused building illegal structures on top of the drainage.

    He also accused them of indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the waterways, forcing water to overflow the gutters into shops.

    According to him, part of the committee’s mandate is to restore the master plan of the market and ensure that it retains its international standard.

    Nwaigwe said: “It might interest you to know that we have carefully carried out proper checks at the market. In our checks, we discovered that the traders built lockup shops on top of drainages.

  • Lafarge emphasises on safer structures

    Lafarge emphasises on safer structures

    The General Manager, Independent Power Projects, Lafarge Holcin, Mr. Lanre Opakunle, has called for collaboration among stakeholders, professional bodies, especially the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Institute of Quantity Surveyors, and others to support the Build Safe, Live Safe campaign. He made this known at a media parley designed to educate and enlighten the public and professional builders on the need to engage professional structural and civil engineers in construction. The ‘Build Safe campaign’ was created to reduce the incidence of collapsed building which has remained a recurring decimal.

    According to the Director Ready Mix Operations, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Fred Amobi, most of  the cases of building collapse  occur as a result of poor mixture of concrete. He said until people are ready to mix concrete in proper proportion, it might be difficult to curtail the menace. He said with the Lafarge Build Safe, Live Safe campaign, stakeholders are expected to come together to rub minds on how to stop unwholesome practices in the sector.

    Amobi, therefore, urged professionals to opt for ready mix concrete which is both affordable and durable in construction, rather than allowing building contractors to put them into trouble while trying to be economical with building materials. This method, he explained, can save millions of home owners from calamity, and also make construction works more profitable for building professionals.

    “Ready-mix concrete is concrete that is manufactured in a factory or batching plant, according to a set recipe, and then delivered to a work site, by truck mounted in–transit mixers. This results in a precise mixture, allowing specialty concrete mixtures to be developed and implemented on construction sites. Ready Mix concrete construction is the future of the construction industry,” he insisted.

    Amobi said Lafarge interacts with all actors in the construction chain and makes a net positive contribution to society through sustainable developments which is part of the company’s DNA.

    A property consultant with TELL Communications Ltd, Mr. Boye Ajayi, urged Nigerians to be weary of whom they consult for construction works. He also used the occasion to challenge Lafarge on the sustainability of the campaign by continuously sensitising the public.

    “As for Lafarge, I will urge them to sustain this campaign and platform. We should structure this forum and partner with various institutions and schools to deepen the Build Safe, Live Safe campaign,” he said.

    Amobi assured that Lafarge Africa will strive to create more value for customers and end-users by providing them with the highest quality products and solutions.

    Indeed, the rate of buildings collapse in Nigeria has become alarming, with its attendant loss of lives and destroying properties. Concerned by the number of lives and properties lost to collapsed buildings, many civil, structural engineers as well as other practitioners many property owners have been left homeless to the scourge.

  • Abia to demolish illegal structures despite protests

    The Abia State government has said that it will go ahead with its plans to demolish illegal structures in commercial hub Aba despites protests from the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state.

    The opposition had alleged that the state government was targeting the buildings of its members in the demolition exercise with the aim to demoralise them and bring them to submission.

    But the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Godwin Adindu said that the demolition exercise in Aba will continue from street to street until to make way for free flow of waste water.

    Speaking in Umuahia, Adindu said that the exercise was not targeted at any group or individuals but is aimed at restoring the city to the status of a modern city which has been defaced with illegal structures over time.

    He said, “There is no selection pattern in the demolition exercise that is going on in Aba and there is no one or group that is the target of government; what we are demolishing are all illegal

    structures that contravene town planning regulations”.

    The CPS said that contrary to the insinuations by the opposition that the demolition was the state government’s way of paying Aba people back for not voting PDP in the last election, that the reverse is the case in this matter.

    Adindu said, “If the government should think or behave in relation to who voted or did not vote for PDP, it will not start its developmental work in Aba at all in view of the voting pattern in the election; we are not as petty as APGA would want people to believe.

    To us, Aba is beyond the voting trend of one election, the city is beyond the election, it belongs to everybody, to all Ndigbo and entire Nigerians, by developing Aba the governor is developing a place that is home to all and not to APGA people”.

     

  • Council chief warns against illegal structures

    Council chief warns against illegal structures

    The Executive Secretary of Iba Local Council Development Area, Hon. Isiaka Yaya has reiterated the council’s commitment to the well-being of the residents, even as he said the business of government is to cater for the people to ensure that they are happy. He said one of the ways residents would live happy life is through ensuring clean and healthy environment.

    Hon. Yaya spoke at Alaba Rago Market where he monitored the monthly sanitation exercise penultimate week.

    While urging the residents and traders to maintain clean environment which will guarantee healthy living, he frowned at the rate at which illegal structures sprang up in the market despite that they had been demolished by the construction firms handling the 10-lane Lagos-Badagry Expressway corridor.

    A statement signed by the Information Officer of the council, Mrs Jimoh Sharafat said the Executive Secretary advised the traders through their head, Seriki to desist from erecting illegal structures, adding that those who flout the directive would face the full wrath of the law.

    According to the statement, the council boss expressed dismay over unwholesome attitudes of some residents on the environment, saying some of the ailments which people suffer from resulted from unhealthy environment due to their unfriendly approach to the surroundings.

    “Basically, our attitude to the environment is very discouraging. For instance, the way we indiscriminately dispose of our domestic wastes is quite unfriendly to the environment. Indiscriminately people empty their wastes into our drainage systems thereby blocking them. The most worrisome among our attitudes to the environment is our penchant for tree cutting and building of illegal structures which prevent our breathing in dirt-free air.

    “It is time we shaped our actions with a more prudent care to avoid dangerous environmental consequences. Through ignorance, or indifference, we can do considerable and irreparable harm to the earthly environment on which our life and well-being depend. On the other hand, through wise actions, we can achieve for ourselves and our posterity a better life in an environment more in keeping with human needs and hopes. To defend and improve the human environment for present and future generations has become an imperative goal for mankind,” Hon. Yaya said.

    Continuing, he said: “No doubt, poor economy and reduced human development are direct fall outs of man’s activities that are harmful to the environment. These include keeping dirty surroundings, pouring refuse into the sea that kill or drive away fishes, dirty drainage system that empties its dirty water into the sea which kill the fishes, cutting down trees, improper management of domestic and industrial waste products, pollution of both the air and the sea, bush burning and smoky engines. These help in endangering our environment and present harsh economic, social and health situations.”

    Replying, the Seriki promised that the traders would co-operate with the council to make life meaningful for the residents, by keying into the council’s policies and programmes evolved to enhance the people’s well-being.

     

  • NCAA clamps down on illegal structures on flight paths

    NCAA clamps down on illegal structures on flight paths

    The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will soon clamp down on unauthorised high-rise buildings erected on flight paths in the nation’s airspace, it has been learnt.

    The structures include telecommunications masts, towers and tall buildings built without the agency’s aviation height clearance.

    NCAA’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Fan Ndubuoke, said the agency would take the action to ensure that there is sufficient safety for aircraft when they want to land.

    The spokesman said NCAA’s investigations showed that the structures were constituting obstacles to the take-off and landing of aircraft.

    To prevent an avoidable occurrence, the regulatory authority has appointed Messrs Noon Mast Ventures Nigeria Limited to identify such structures near airports and pull them down from flight paths, he said.

    NCAA’s regulation stipulates that those who are compelled by whatever reason to erect a mast or high-rise structure near the airport or on flight paths should obtain NCAA’s Aviation Height Clearance.

    Ndubuoke said: “Once this request is made, the department in charge will proceed for inspection and give approval for an allowable safety height or will be advised to relocate the structure, where applicable.”

     

    “The firm has, therefore, been mandated to embark on countrywide surveillance, demand NCAA’s certificate of clearance as a condition for verification from owners of existing structures and, where this is nonexistent, they will be pulled down instantly.

    “While owners are advised to cooperate with them, it is important to note that all violators will bear the cost of pulling down the structure, if the need arises.

    “This action is to further strengthen our regulatory resolve to ensure safety and security of air transport in Nigeria. It is pertinent to point out that violations will be viewed seriously by the authority.”

     

     

     

  • ‘Why Delta won’t stop demolishing illegal structures’

    ‘Why Delta won’t stop demolishing illegal structures’

    Delta State Commissioner of Environment Chief Frank Omare was the guest at the maiden edition of the ‘Searchlight on the State of the State’ hosted by the Warri Correspondent Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ). He fielded questions from reporters. BOLAJI OGUNDELE was there.

    What alternative places have you made for those displaced (during the demolition exercise) considering the economic hardship and what are you doing about some of your men alleged to be collecting bribes?

    We cannot allow people to continue to block government roads because they are poor, because they don’t have the means to have shops. If we do, they will just take over the whole place.

    Abroad, we have open market on Sundays, we are not against that. But the culture of continuing to block our roads, we should discourage it in its entirety. Who is a poor man? We have provided markets, let them go into those markets and start trading. As soon as you enter Sapele, there is a market, but half of the market is a dump site, another half is abandoned.

    The issue of bribe, he who alleges must prove. Why did you give bribe? It is because you are doing something wrong. If one is giving bribe, we have the social media, you can snap us, as we are taking the bribe. We are going to comb round again before the structures will take over. So, when you are building a block store where we have removed a caravan, you will tell us who gave you that approval. We mustn’t promote sentiment. Government policies and ideologies are always minority ideologies. Let us know that what government has put in place on the long run is the majority ideology.

    Delta State Forest Reserve has been encroached by a lot of them. What the ministry wants to do by next week we are using the media to inform that all those forest reserves that have been encroached upon by Deltans and non-Deltans should be evacuated immediately. If you go to Sapele Forest reserve, it is as if government does not own a land there. Why should you be building on government property? If you go to Agbor, Asaba, it’s all over and I cannot fold my hands. I will take the bullets on behalf of you; Deltans and the government of Delta State. Government must make a decision and government must take a position.

    Garbage removed from the gutters is beginning to litter the main roads, defacing Warri, what are you going to do about it?

    Government is not a charity organisation, you generate waste, you dump them in front of your gutters and you are asked to evacuate them. You should be punished for doing that. Thank God the governor of Delta state has taken the bold step in the area of environment.

    Some of the affected victims of the 2012 flooding have complained that they have not been given anything. Is this correct and what is the Delta state government doing in respect of the recent flood predicted for the Niger Delta Region?

    We have swamp boogies in the Delta South and Central Area, opening channels to major rivers. That is why after one hour of heavy rainfall, you see that all areas are flowing. That is one serious area the state government has been working on in the past three years.

    Secondly, if the money doesn’t get to you as the community leader, you will claim that nothing has happened, it is not charity money. I know the Chairman of the committee, Rtd Justice Tabai and I can vouch that they have done a thorough job and have reported to the government of Delta state. I am sure and I am happy that my governor did not touch the money. He set up a committee and released the money to the committee.

    We understand that one particular ethnic group is more affected in the demolition of the royal cemetery. Is that true?

    I don’t know which ethnic group. I am an Ijaw man, I am not commissioner of Ijaw ethnic nationality, I am a Commissioner of Delta State and I am given an assignment of the Delta state government, so it can affect any ethnic group or the Nigerian society. The most important question is if what Omare-led team has done is against the law. If it is not then what is the issue? As a matter of government policy, my recommendation after the task work is that those people who have laboured government and used taxpayers’ resources be arrested and prosecuted.

    Uvwie market has become a recurring decimal, what are you going to do about it? The Jigbale market still remains and caravans are still around, can Warri be clean?

    The attitude of the people has propelled me to do what I should do. You are aware that overtime I have gone to the Uvwie market, if you want a financial quantification of what government has put in to clean that place, it is enough to build this house, and there will be change. But what has happened, the people are adamant. They say, ‘this is our culture, our tradition’, and thank God the paramount ruler of Uvwie and other prominent people of Uvwie have condemned their actions.

    There is what we call the helicopter factor; when there is problem and you have tried all you can and it keeps returning. When twenty women, claiming poverty as excuse, will be matched to the Okere High College (Okere Prisons), they will know that government is serious, but that is what government is trying to avoid.

    Please, I want you to educate and tell them, so that tomorrow, they won’t ask me, ‘did you tell them’? They should stop embarrassing the people of Uvwie. Uvwie people are clean people. I have been there on market days, when they see me, they behave, but when I’m not there, they come out. Jigbale market and caravans, we are coming.

    Is the task force only for demolition of illegal structures and street trading? In some places, we see traders using umbrellas, what are you doing about it?

    The position of the task force is not for only illegal structures, we cart away waste. It is sad that people are just wicked to the government. Ask this, the efforts of Omare and his team, are they not enough for people to behave well? We are putting structures in place, even though it is slow.

    Some persons have admitted to doing wrong against the environment.

  • Build functional structures, cleric charges leaders

    Christian leaders had been challenged to build functional and viable structures for their churches and organisations.

    The Rector of Gospel Theological College and General Overseer of Powerhouse International Ministries Lagos, Bishop (Dr) Harrison Inam, made this call last weekend at the annual Ministers’ Congress.

    Inam said churches and organisations do not grow because leaders build the structures around themselves.

    According to him, structures in churches must be delegated devoid of unnecessary interventions of such leaders.

    Inam harped on church leaders to take responsibility of developing systems that enhance healthy growth.

    He said: “Ministry is not just about teaching the word but learning to develop systems.

    “The first revelation of the Spirit in Genesis portrays God as setting a chaotic and disorganised earth in order.”

    He warned Christian leaders against copying the structures of other churches without consideration for their peculiarities and challenges.

    Another speaker at the congress, Rev. Joshua Akpan of The Place of Grace Church, Ogun State, described leadership as the act of influencing others in a manner that fosters their confidence, respect and support towards common goals.

    He urged Christian leaders to present themselves as agents of restoration at all times.