If what is brewing on rumour mill is anything to go by, over 100 homes will be affected in the plans by Anambra State to rid the capital city of shanties that dot its landscape. Information from an impeccable source has it that a team from Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) led by the Managing Director, Amaechi Okwuosa, has pasted notices on the properties and locked out occupants.
The exercise meant to sanitise the capital will have over 100 persons risk losing their homes following the order.
PropertyMart source revealed that the agency sealed off structures sited indiscriminately in Awka, including shanties built under high-tension poles and cables. Other unauthorised buildings also sealed off were those whose fences were above the 0.9 meter authorised height and environments with overgrown grasses.
According to the source, from the main entrance of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Amaku Awka, where the team kicked off to Agu Awka, where they wrapped it up, over 30 residences were sealed. The agency also sealed off a cooking gas plant situated inside a petrol station. The ACTDA boss, Okwuosa, said that most of the affected structures and sites had been issued warning notices by the Board prior to the day, which most of them failed to comply with.
He said the drive by Governor Willie Obiano administration to give Anambra State, particularly Awka, the, a befitting and world-class aesthetics must be adhered to by the people, and warned that the Board would not hesitate to sanction anybody involved in indiscriminate constructions that deface the city. A stranded resident of one of the affected structures, Mr. Chika Akabogu, told journalists that the government’s intervention, as challenging as it seemed, was necessary if Awka should attain the dream height.
Recall that the state government in May, demolished some illegal structures by the same Awka ACTDA across the Anambra State capital. According to one of the ACTDA officials, Mr. Tochukwu Anyim, the street traders were given four-month notice to get rid of the structures.
He noted, however, that it appeared that they did not take the quit notice with the seriousness attached to it. Anyim added that the state government aimed at creating a more befitting and beautiful environment.
“The demolition is not against them selling their goods, but it is for the betterment of Awka city,’’ the official explained. Another official known simply as Uche said that the state government had for long advised owners of illegal structures to quit. He added that the demolition was carried out at night to avoid casualties.
