Andrew Tarker, Abuja
Serious indications emerged over the weekend that the Senate would throw its weight behind the FCTA Department of Development Control.
This indication was made during Saturday’s oversight tour of ongoing priority projects in the nation’s capital.
Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, Sen. Smart Adeyemi (APC Kogi West) who led members of his Committee and top FCTA officials on the tour underscored the importance of enforcement of city regulations in line with the provisions of the Abuja Master Plan.
Adeyemi who was visibly disappointed when he visited the Wuse Zone 6 head office of the Department and saw broken down payloaders and bulldozers meant to be used for demolition exercises pledged to support the department and the whole FCT Administration get necessary budgetary provisions to either procure new ones or repair ailing equipment to work better.
Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Umar Shuiabu, while addressing the Committee stated that it was nearly impossible to have a beautiful city without enforcement, which could not be done without necessary equipment, which the Development Control, a department under the Council lacks.
Corroborating the Coordinator, Director, Department of Development Control, Muktar Galadima decried the dearth of plants and other equipment required for enforcement and sought Senate support to perform more effectively.
Galadima told the Senate that his department could only boast of one payloader which was even faulty at the moment.
“All the work you see us do. This is the only machine we use. It causes us to spend a lot of time in one area while abuses on the Abuja Master Plan fester in other areas.
“If we do not do what we do, the level of illegal developments in our beautiful federal capital could have long overwhelmed the city, leading to chaos and much more. We will not allow that to happen”, he said.