LUGBE, ABUJA – (Federal Ministry of Power, Works & Housing Report) – The Minister of State II for Power, Works and Housing, Suleiman Hassan Zarma (Surv) has lamented the deplorable condition of roads and drainage infrastructures at the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Estate in Lugbe, Abuja attributing it to critical failures of the planning authorities in time past to upgrade them, giving room for flagrant abuse of planning regulations by residents.
The Minister stated this on Tuesday September 18, 2018 in Abuja during an assessment tour of the infrastructural facilities at the estate along with the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority, Mohammed Al-amin (Prof).
According to him, the typography of the estate was not fully taken into consideration at the planning and design stage, hence the reason for the hydraulic failures. He added that the facilities that were initially deployed like the drainage system may have become small and over – stretched such that they cannot now contain large volume of water, especially during the flooding period. Zarma said that the present administration as part of its commitment to the citizenry will not relent in upgrading infrastructural services across the country to enhance and improve the living standards of Nigerians in the Federal Government owned estates.
Earlier in his remarks, the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority, Mohammed Al-amin (Prof) thanked the Federal Government and the Ministry for massively investing in infrastructures across the country and maintaining the existing structures.
While conducting the Minister and journalists round the roads and other facilities in the Estate, Al-amin stated that the essence of the visit was to upgrade the FHA settlement into an urban centre due to its proximity to the city centre and the different categories of civil servants living in the housing Estate.
Speaking at the site of the inspection, the Chairman of the Residents Association, Odelana Adesina thanked the Minister for creating time to visit the Estate. He inferred that the residents were glad that the visit by the Minister offered him the opportunity of having a firsthand information about the deplorable state of the roads.
He also solicited the support of Government for the rehabilitation of the existing major roads as well as building alternative ones in and out of the Estate for ease of movement by residents. He urged the Government to assist the residents in the provision of other infrastructures such as hospitals, drainages, water supply, metering for electricity and improved security within the Estate.
The Federal Housing Authority Estate in Lugbe was built some 30 years ago and currently accommodates over 70,000 different categories of Federal Civil Servants who work in the city centre.
