MOPS Scheme will secure public places in Oyo —Commissioner

OYO State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Chief Isaac Ishola, described a recent scheme launched by the state government, Management of Open Spaces (MOPS), as a tool for rejuvenating the state at little cost to tax payers and with minimum disruption to daily commercial activities.

The scheme which was recently introduced to stakeholders forum in a ceremony at the Western Hall, State Secretariat Complex, Ibadan, according to Chief Ishola is aimed at capturing public spaces in the state in line with the government’s urban regeneration master plan.

He noted that the state government’s decision to involve the private sector in the scheme will help the government in identifying and documenting all public spaces, removing encroachers, securing the sites and keeping them beautiful and environmentally friendly for residents.

Ishola stated that:“MOPS will help to update government data on public spaces and to secure all such areas. In this way, trespassers and miscreants can be removed from parks, setbacks, and such like, making them safer for public use and available for development.

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“Secondly, MOPS will reinforce the activities of other Oyo State agencies such as Waste Management, Transport Management and Signage.”

He added that the scheme will ensure that beautification and horticultural works on designed routes and parks are developed and always kept maintained. He explained that “this will increase the value of adjacent private properties and also make the vicinity attractive for development, for example, recreational purposes such as parks; for commercial activities, such as shopping malls or short-term car parks.”

Defining what constitutes public spaces, the Director-General of the Bureau of Planning and Development Control, Alhaji Waheed Gbadamosi, who was represented by a director in the agency, S. P. Taiwo, said roads, including pavements, public squares, parks and beaches make up public spaces.

He said, “In land use planning, open space is any open piece of land that is undeveloped, that has no buildings or other built structures and is accessible to the public.”

He regretted that most of the public spaces in major towns and cities are being largely misused through unathourised conversion to residences and business places; unauthorised parking lots by commercial concerns whose buildings lack parking provisions; unauthorised markets and garages and unauthorised refuse dump sites.