By Amgbare Prince, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State Government has set up a 11-man Technical Committee for the Phase Two of the New Yenagoa Gateway Road as a planning area running from Igbogene to Onopa within the state capital.
The committee is chaired by the Executive Secretary of the State Physical Planning and Development Board, Alabo Gideon Ekeuwei.
The Committee comprises five representatives from the communities, and six officials from the ministry, the Physical Planning and Development Board, the Surveyor General’s office, and the office of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, disclosed this at an enlarged stakeholders’ meeting involving the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, the office of the Surveyor General, and the Bayelsa Physical Planning and Development Board, as well as traditional rulers drawn from Igbogene to Onopa.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, stated that the Lawmaker representing Yenagoa Constituency One in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Oforji Oboku, and the Obenibe of Epie, King Malla Sasime, also attended the meeting.
Addressing the meeting, Senator Ewhrudjakpo explained that government’s intention to designate both sides of the Gateway Road as a planning area was aimed at preventing the disorderly development of structures in the area.
He noted that Yenagoa the state capital that is supposed to be a cynosure of Bayelsa, but due to uncoordinated and haphazard construction of buildings everywhere, had yet to achieve the aesthetic beauty of a capital city.
According to the Deputy Governor, both government and the various communities, including land developers were to blame for not implementing the original Yenagoa City Master plan over the years, which he noted, had resulted in the present chaotic structural status of the state capital.
Shedding more light on the proposed plan, Senator Ewhrudjakpo pointed out that government’s intention was not to acquire all the land in the designated area, but to map out roads and allocate areas for specific public utilities to ensure orderly and planned development.
Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Andrew Esau, allayed the fears of the communities, assuring them that they had right and access to their lands, but that government’s interest was to regulate development in the area.
Executive Chairman of the Physical Planning and Development Board, Alabo Gideon Ekeuwei, said government needed the cooperation of the various communities to successfully carry out its urban development plan in the area.
On their part, the Member representing Yenagoa Constituency 1 in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Oforji Oboku, the Obenibe of Epie Kingdom, King Malla Sasime and all the traditional rulers present at the meeting endorsed the decision of government.
While commending the present administration’s development strides, they however, called for adequate sensitization campaigns in all the affected communities to enable the people understand the good plan of government for the area.
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