Consult professionals before building, Ogun advises property owners

To forestall haphazard improvement and promote sustainable maturation successful Ogun State, residents person been warned against embarking connected gathering projects without indispensable readying and consultation.

This informing was made connected Thursday astatine the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Ogun State Chapter, held successful Abeokuta.

The NITP Chairman, Adefelola Sogbesan, expressed interest that galore structures are built successful the incorrect locations, citing instances wherever individuals unknowingly physique schools and factories successful areas designated arsenic residential.

Speaking connected the AGM’s theme, “Cross-Sector Collaboration successful the Production and Implementation of Development Plans: The Imperative of Synergy Among MDAs,” Sogbesan emphasized the value of effectual practice betwixt Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to warrant thorough carnal development.

He said, “I privation to counsel residents to consult professionals. In this portion of the world, we are not consulting professionals. For example, you privation to bargain onshore to physique a school, and past you bargain onshore wherever the strategy is meant for residential. After doing each the indispensable things, you present recognize that you are gathering successful the incorrect spot due to the fact that you didn’t consult professionals.”

On his part, the Commissioner for Housing, Jamiu Omoniyi, stated that each applicable authorities ministries, agencies, and departments are moving unneurotic to nutrient maestro plans that see each the economic, structural, and biology factors needed to formulate bully lodging policies for the state.

Similarly, Olatunji Odunlami, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, maintained that structures lacking due readying would jeopardize the state’s progress. He pledged that his ministry would support collaborating with different ministries and agencies to instrumentality the state’s developmental plan.

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser/Director General of the Bureau of Lands and Survey, Segun Fowora, called for accrued enforcement and stricter actions against defaulters, noting that galore of them instrumentality vantage of connections with radical successful precocious places.

Fowora said, “I deliberation the synergy is not an contented due to the fact that the antithetic arms are headed by professionals who cognize and recognize the full essence of everything.

“If you person radical who judge they are supra the law, you volition spot that radical don’t travel gathering codes sometimes, they don’t travel setbacks, and they bash it with impunity. I’m definite you’ve each seen it, and for immoderate reason, they consciousness they cognize idiosyncratic and determination is unit to regularize oregon penalize them.

“Maybe it needs to beryllium much punitive. Enforcement needs to beryllium stronger due to the fact that they judge that the worst-case script is they’ll beryllium fined, and they’ll pay. So I consciousness astir of it is astir mitigating the enforcement and sticking rigidly to the improvement guide. When we bash that, everything volition enactment retired seamlessly,” helium concluded.