Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has directed that all communities impacted by the recent flooding in the state be audited to gather data for the commencement of a state-wide removal of illegal structures blocking drains.
Obaseki who gave the order at the weekly Executive Council Meeting on Wednesday in Government House, urged the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development to commence the exercise across the state.
Special Adviser to the governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said: “The governor is disturbed by the news of flooding in the state and has directed the respective ministries and allied agencies to commence the removal of all structures on water paths across the state.”
The governor’s aide noted that no structure will be spared during the exercise and advised owners of illegal buildings and structures that violate the state’s extant town planning laws to remove them.
The governor’s directive will lend more strength to the ongoing removal of illegal structures by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development in parts of Benin City, the state capital.
Recall that the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development on Tuesday removed some illegal buildings and structures that violate the state’s extant town planning laws in Ugbor axis of Benin.
The structures affected were those along waterways, moats, right of way of roads/streets, river banks and Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) high tension lines, among others.
Speaking to journalists during the exercise in Ugbor Village, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Erimona Oye Edorodion, said the state government embarked on the exercise after several notices put out to warn erring members of the public to remove the structures, which seriously contravened extant state town planning laws.
According to him, the illegal structures being removed include “roof extensions, structures erected on the right of way of roads, moats, river banks, Transmission Company of Nigeria’s high- tension lines, all attachments on fence, caravans, kiosks and wooden sheds which are scattered all over Benin City.”
