Property owners along Afikpo Road, Old Ogoja Road, and Ojeowere Street, all within the Abakaliki metropolis, have called on Governor Francis Nwifuru to adjust the size of the road from 10.8 meters to 5.5 meters to save a large number of buildings along the corridor from total demolition.
Some of the property owners made the appeal during a Town Hall Meeting of the state governor, with Ebonyi State Landlords Association, property owners along Old Ogoja Rd (Vanco-Rice Mill), Old Afikpo Rd (Vanco-Spera in Deo), Ojeowere Street, and Vanco-Waterworks Rd, among others.
The property owners lamented that should the governor go ahead with the government-stipulated metres and subsequent demolition exercise, a chunk of their buildings, which include newly constructed 4-star hotels, shopping malls, police stations, banks, and residential buildings, will be completely demolished.
One of them, the CEO of Grooves Hotels Abakaliki, Elder Silas Orawo, expressed the fear that half of the hotel buildings would be pulled down and appealed to the governor to reduce the road size to save them. He added that with the proposed adjustment of 4.5 meters, the destruction would be minimal.
“Your Excellency, should the road be reduced from 10.8 metres to 4.5 metres or 5 metres, the demolition will only affect the hotel’s generator house, while the building will be saved. We are appealing to you to reconsider your stand and adjust the metres to enable us to save some part of our properties.
Another concerned citizen, Juliet Anyigor, who spoke on behalf of tenants, lamented that some tenants had already paid their house rent for the year, adding that the State Government should also consider their plight.
“I am here to speak on behalf of the vulnerable tenants who are usually not taken into consideration during the demolition. They are neither paid compensation nor assisted to relocate before, during or after the demolition.
“A good number might have renewed their rent for the year. Should the demolition commence without them having exhausted the rent they paid, nobody will refund them. With the increase in house rents in Ebonyi, how many vulnerable tenants would be able to afford 1.5million as house rent in the State?
“My appeal is for the State Governor to consider the tenants, give them time to relocate before the demolition exercise commences. There is housing deficit in Abakaliki and it would be difficult for many to relocate easily.”
The chairman of the Ebonyi State Landlords Association (EBSLA), Chief Augustine Okoye, appealed to the state governor to ensure adequate compensation for those affected by the demolition, adding that the development of any state capital and towns comes with sacrifices.
He maintained that the association would continue to support the state government’s developmental policies and programmes, pointing out that the state must be comparable to other states in the federation.
Earlier, Governor Francis Nwifuru informed the gathering that the meeting was to address the difficult decision taken by the state government to ensure that the master plan of the state capital is maintained and actualised.
Governor Nwifuru announced that those whose buildings are affected along the Old Ogoja Road corridor would not be compensated, adding that this went contrary to the law, which stipulated the buildings’ measurements to the road.
He said that the state government would commence the demolition exercise after the estate valuers had concluded the value of the affected properties, adding that the properties affected are about 25% of the buildings along the axis.
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