FCT minister issues 2-month deadline to Bwari fish farm estate

MINISTER of Federal Capital Territory,  Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has warned the allottees of Farm House plots at Bwari Fish Estate to develop their plots, especially the fish ponds, within two months, failure of which the plots would be revoked.

Malam Bello gave this warning when he paid an unscheduled visit to the estate in Bwari Area Council, Abuja

He noted that the Fish Farm Estate was a government intervention initiative that commenced in 2012 to encourage families to go into fish farming, leveraging on the water resources available in the FCT.

He said that there was also an enormous market in addition to the realisation that there was a huge gap between the demand for fish and the supply for fish in the FCT to bridge.

Bello, who expressed disappointment at the poor level of development in the estate, warned that the beneficiaries of the fish estate who continued to shun the site would have their plots revoked in the next two months, if they failed to turn up.

The minister said the project, which had an estimated capacity of 500 metric tonnes of fish per annum was expected to create employment opportunities for residents of the FCT and contribute to national fish production.

He stressed that the project was in line with the general policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration on job creation and economic empowerment for the populace and should, therefore, not be abandoned by the beneficiaries.

“All those people who have plot in this place, I want everybody to come within two months or else we revoke the allocation. I was very amazed when the head of fishery was telling me that the people refused to come here because there was no road; there was no water, are you saying if there is no road, you won’t go to your farm? It is the farmer that creates the road by going to and from his farm,” he stressed.

The Minister, vowed to ensure that the project was completed in order to fulfil this mandate in accordance with his general policy drive of ensuring that all projects that were meant to be of immense benefit to the residents of the FCT that were commenced by previous administrations were completed.

He was, however, full of praises for one of the farmers, Mr. Vincent Oguche, an Architect by profession, who had commenced fish production at the site.

“I’ve come in here and I’ve seen so many things. I can see guava, I can see pawpaw, I can see Moringa, I can see palm tree. I saw banana over there and I saw Aloe Vera. I saw so many things and that’s the whole idea.