The governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election in Ebonyi State Comrade Splendor Oko has alleged that exorbitant village attorney and youth levies imposed by different communities have continued to scare real estate investors from coming into Ebonyi State to invest in housing.
Oko who called for the urgent intervention of the state governor maintained that to address the fears of estate investors, the state government must regulate the activities of village attorneys and youth groups who go about harassing estate investors and builders.
Comrade Oko while reacting to the state government plan to stop land and house agents from extorting money from people maintained that all the empty lands in the state capital are left undeveloped because of the high levies imposed on prospective builders.
He said, “House agents in Ebonyi State are not the only reason houses and lands are expensive in Ebonyi State. The present administration must invest in real estate development so as to open satellite towns in Ebonyi State.
“To reduce the high cost of house rents, the state government must invite estate developers to come and invest in the state by giving them all the support needed to do business in the state.
“Ebonyi State Government also as a matter of urgency should reduce the high cost of annual rate and taxes imposed on landlords as most of them throw back the high cost of these annual rent on their apartments and this naturally rises up the cost of house rent in the state.
“Amounts paid in capital territory for building approvals must also be reduced to encourage people to build more houses in the state. Likewise the high cost of survey plan and Certificate of occupancy (C OF O) should also be reduced to encourage more investors into the sector.”
Comrade Oko also urged Governor Nwifuru to give an executive order to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC to distribute original prepaid meters to users in the state and stop forthwith estimated billing in the state.
“The State Government should ensure that all the wooden electric poles should be removed and replaced with concrete poles and ensure that new transformers are purchased to replace the old ones in the State to ensure constant electricity supply,” he added.
He appealed to the state government to stop the construction of more flyovers in the state and invest more in the construction of rural and urban roads.
“The present administration should use the State House of Assembly to enact a law that will regulate the operations and activities of land agents and insist that the operators must operate having registered with the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) and must not collect above 5%. This is better than banning them completely from operating in the state,” he said.
