By Obiabin Onukwugha
The federal government has issued a new fuideline for the effective control and management of national inland waterways and shorelines reclamation.
The framework was part of the resolutions of a meeting of the technical inter-ministerial committee on the effective control and management of national inland waterways and shorelines in the country,
A statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the federal ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Badamasi Haiba, said a committee comprising Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (FMHUD), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and Office of Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGoF), was set up to review, harmonise and update procedures on shoreline reclamation applications, allocations and collaborative regulatory processes.
“Following extensive deliberations, the committee approved a unified Standard Application Procedure (SAP) to guide all shoreline allocations, reclamation requests and related approvals, in order to ensure uniformity, accountability and transparency.
“Under the new framework, all shoreline applications shall commence with the submission of a Letter of Intent to the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, to be followed by a mandatory joint inspection by FMHUD and NIWA, with the participation of the applicant,” the statement read in part.
The committee directed that provisional allocations shall be based strictly on survey data jointly validated and charted by surveyors from the ministry, NIWA and the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation, in order to prevent encroachment into navigational channels, avoid overlapping grants and safeguard national spatial integrity.
It said all existing shoreline grants, whether new, active, dormant or pending, shall be subjected to immediate review in line with the newly approved SAP. It said in accordance with earlier presidential directives, any approval granted in previous years without evidence of payment of statutory assessed fees has been revoked.
The committee directed that for high-sensitivity locations, including Banana Island, no new approval or extension shall exceed boundaries jointly established by FMHUD, OSGoF and NIWA, adding that strict compliance shall be enforced.
The committee also approved a mandatory processing timeline of 14 days for each stage of the shoreline application and approval process.
“All Provisional Offer Letters shall henceforth carry clear expiration clauses, while non-compliance by officers or applicants shall attract appropriate administrative and regulatory sanctions,” it added.
The statement emphasised that the resolutions of the committee “supersede all previous communications, directives, circulars and guidelines issued by any Ministry, Department or Agency (MDAs) in respect of shoreline reclamation, allocation, survey validation and related regulatory matters.”
The committee commended the participating agencies for their cooperation and reaffirmed its commitment to a transparent, coordinated and sustainable framework for the management, protection and orderly development of Nigeria’s inland waterways and shorelines.
