Unplanned structures will be demolished — Dickson

PEEVED by the increase in the number of unplanned structures in the state, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has said government would no longer condone it and that government is poised to commence demolition of structures defacing the aesthetic of the state.

This, Dickson said while inaugurating the Bayelsa State physical planning and urban development board in Yenagoa.

He charged the Board to ensure that land developers in Yenagoa, the state capital, comply with the development control laws and regulations of the state.

Dickson also task the Chairman and Executive Directors of the board to see their role as vital role towards government’s efforts to generate revenue for the state.

Noting that haphazard structures would no longer be accepted in the state capital, Yenagoa, Dickson regretted that some structures are build on drainage channels, others on road layouts, even as he posited that some are responsible for the traffic on the major Mbiama/Yenagoa road because of their proximity to the road.

The Governor, who also called on the management team of the board to update his office with their activities on a monthly basis, said the board is expected to enforce the development control laws and regulations towards actualising the dreams the government has for Yenagoa.

His words: “Yenagoa has to be a planned city where development is regulated; where there must be order and discipline in regulation. We don’t want Bayelsa and particularly our state capital to be a slum.

“We don’t want people to just carry out development anyhow without any recourse to government and without any planning. We don’t want our people to continue to think that for you to have a house, you locate a forest; and then begin to build the house. That is never done; that is chaos and that is the type of situation we presently have.”

The Governor, however, noted that despite government and individual investment in Yenagoa, the beauty is yet to be seen because the development is not taking any planned or structured manner; even as he pointed that haphazard development should stop forthwith in the state.

Dickson reiterated that the board would perform the duties earlier performed by the Capital City Development Authority (CCDA) and development control to generate revenue for government.

He however pointed that the board was backed by legislation owing to its importance to ensure a face lift for Yenagoa and revenue drive to the government.