AKPABIO WANTS ERRING TOWN PLANNERS SANCTIONED
Akwa Ibom Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio has recommended sanctions against erring town planners who contributed to haphazard planning and development of cities in the country. Akpabio made this known when the National President of Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Kabiru Yari, paid him a courtesy visit at the Governor's Lodge, Uyo, Wednesday.
The Governor flayed some town planners for colluding with some land developers to circumvent existing laws on building approvals to people in the urban areas, saying, 'some of them contribute to flood disasters faced in the country today.'
He stated: 'We have achieved much in terms of infrastructural development. Without planning, we would not have gone this far. We are re-modelling and we are loking at the drainage system. So, we had to make sure that we plan and eradicate flood that ravages the streets by creating a pipe jacking underground system to drain water from the streets into the pipe that flows into the river.
Akpabio hinted that his administration has, through the office of the state Surveyor-General, awarded contract for digital area planning of the state, to help anybody wishing to access it in the internet to do so without delay. While commending the president and members for their willingness to confer a fellowship award of the body on him, he pledged to work closely with them in a bid to make and implement town-planning laws.
The governor sued Nigerians to listen to town planners to avert flood disasters, reasoning that disasters could be reduced based on heeding advice of the professionals.
The president of the body told the governor that he was in the state to conduct the mandatory professional qualification for members and lauded him for the various development strides. Kabiru Yari stated that, due to the outstanding performance of Akpabio, the body has concluded plans to confer a fellowship award of the body on him on a date yet to be announced.
Stressing the need for a comprehensive master plan for the state, he described it as a foundation of any meaningful development and appealed to the governor to give the project a priority.