The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has condemned the rebuilding of massive umbrella markets in the Mpape neighborhood, following the dismantling of illegal structures in the region a few days ago.
Comrade Ikharo Attah, Chairman of the FCT Ministerial Taskforce on City Sanitation, made the remark during an appraisal visit to the area on Sunday in Abuja.
He told them that unlawful structures were still being demolished and that the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, had asked the team to totally clean up Mpape.
Anyone planning any construction or modification work should wait until the operation is completed, according to Attah.
Anyone contemplating a project in Mpape must first certify the work and get approval from the FCT Department of Development Control, according to him.
Attah vows that no illegal development or structure would be tolerated in Mpapa because he was a clean-up theater.
According to him; ” We carried out major clean up of shanties and illegal structure, two weeks ago from the very heart of over densely populated Mpape community.
” We have not gotten to 25 per cent of the total clean up operation we are supposed to do but sadly, while we spend the whole of last week doing evaluation of the entirety of the work done across the city as well as going on surveillance inspections.
” I can tell you what we saw at Mpape was not looking good at all. Some person assumed that we are not going to resume demolition, some even carry rumours that the taskforce has been disbanded by the FCT Minister.
” If you look at Mpape now the enormity of illegality that is coming up there are multidimensional. The mobile shanties and massive return of umbrella or canopy markets, particularly in the evening is not good at all.”
Attah said the the taskforce would continue to remove all illegality in area, adding that the operation would touch Bedger Quarry and Panteka market by the roadside which was very disturbing.
” Sadly, they brought back all secondhand building materials to the road but we are going to push them back very strongly.
” To be very candid we have not even properly dress the set back we took and have not look at the old market because that particular one is an eye saw.
” What we saw within the week particularly this weekend shows that it is a bad bleeding points.
” And we spoke to the Bwari Area Council that the market it is a bad bleeding points with no entry point at all. It is very disturbing and with all of this there is still much work to be done.
” Mpape is just beginning and we are not going to issue special notice again like we did in the past. It is an ongoing operation so there is no need for new notice.
” We told people to vacate but many of them refused and even those that we removed their shanties have fully return trying to do whatever they can do,” Attah further stated.
