By Yemi Olakitan
To stop the haphazard construction of structures, the Bayelsa State Government has classified both sides of the Gateway Road as a planning area.
Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the deputy governor of Bayelsa, revealed this on January 4, 2023 during a stakeholder gathering in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Participants in the conference included representatives from the Office of the Surveyor General, the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, and the Bayelsa State Physical Planning and Development Board. Speaking to the stakeholders, Ewhrudjakpo stated that the government has designated the region between Igbogene and Onopa on phase two of the new Yenagoa Gateway Road as the state capital’s planning area. According to him, Yenagoa was meant to be the jewel of Bayelsa but the disorganised erection of structures prevented it from becoming that.
He contends that the failure to carry out the initial Yenagoa city master plan throughout the years is the fault of the government, the local communities, and land developers.
The deputy governor claimed that the current structural chaos of the state capital was a direct outcome of the lawlessness.
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He added that the government’s goal was to lay out roadways and designate regions for particular public utilities in order to ensure orderly and planned growth, not to buy up all the land in the designated area.
Ewhrudjakpo stated that in order to do this, a technical committee made up of 11 people would be formed and presided over by Mr. Gideon Ekeuwei, Executive Secretary of the State Physical Planning and Development Board.
Five people from each community are included on the committee, along with six representatives from the ministry, the Physical Planning and Development Board, the Surveyor General’s office, and the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice offices, he said.
Mr. Andrew Esau, the Commissioner for Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, assured the populace that they would have access to and rights over their land, adding that it was in the government’s best interest to control development there.
Ekeuwei added that for the government’s urban development plan to be implemented successfully, the various communities’ participation was required.
The government’s choice was supported by all of the traditional leaders present at the meeting.
The traditional leaders praised the current administration’s development achievements and urged for sufficient public awareness campaigns in all the impacted communities to help the populace comprehend the area’s good government objectives.
