The new Bayelsa State
Physical Planning and urban Development Board has been saddled with the
responsibility of ensuring that land developers in Yenagoa, the state capital,
comply with the development control laws and regulations of the state, reports
ITRealms.
To this end, the state
government has advised those, who have already built structures in Yenagoa,
without recourse to the government approved permit to regularize them, as
failure to do so, would attract demolition of such structures.
Governor Seriake
Dickson, who gave the advice while inaugurating the Chairman and Executive
Directors of the board in Government House, Yenagoa, stressed that, the board
also has a vital role to play in the government’s efforts to generate revenue
for the state.
Describing their
functions as crucial to laying the physical planning and development of the
state capital, he condemned the practice of some individuals, who construct
their houses haphazardly thereby defacing the capital city.
Governor Dickson, who
also called on the management team of the board to update his office with their
activities on a monthly basis, said the board is expected to enforce the
development control laws and regulations towards actualizing the dreams the
government has for Yenagoa.
His words: “Yenagoa has
to be a planned city where development is regulated; where there must be order
and discipline in regulation. We don’t want Bayelsa and particularly our state
capital to be a slum.
“We don’t want people to
just carry out development anyhow without any recourse to government and
without any planning. We don’t want our people to continue to think that for
you to have a house, you just come anywhere there is a forest; and then begin
to build the house. That is never done; that is chaos and that is the type of
situation we presently have.
“The reason Yenagoa
City, even with the investment government and individuals are making, the
beauty is yet to come out very well because the development is not taking any
planned or structured manner. Development is haphazard. Now, all that has to
stop.
“This board is a mixture
of two critical bodies. You are going to perform the duties earlier performed
by the Capital City Development Authority. You will also perform development
control as well as embark on revenue generation. So this board is very
important and that is why we took time to select you all and amend the law. We
took time to even draft the initial legislation and to cause an amendment to be
made until we are where we are today.
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