A one-storey building owned by the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Henry Dickson, situated along Opolo/AIT road, Yenagoa was demolished on Wednesday for obstructing the Right of Way as well as intruding on the State Capital City Master Plan.
The structure was marked for demolition by the CCDA on June 28, 2012 for intruding on the Master Plan (MPI) and Right of Way (ROW).
The exercise, which commenced at 12:48pm was supervised by the Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (rtd), Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ehwrudjakpor, Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Deacon Markson Fefegha, Commissioner for State Capital City Development, Mr. Konugha Zuwa and other top government functionaries.
Other structures affected include that of the Director-General of State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA), Dr. Temple Iluma.
Addressing newsmen, the Deputy Governor said the location of the governor’s house obstructed the Right of Way and as a result, no compensation would be paid.
In line with the development control of the CCDA and urban renewal of the state, he said the government awarded contract for the dualisation of the road, stressing that anyone who has built structures on the right of way should expect such buildings to be demolished.
The deputy governor: “We have been talking about the master plan as well as some areas where we have to carry out urban renewal. For the master plan, we expect every builder to go and get clearance before he or she starts to build to see the extent that he can go outside the road.
“One of the houses we have found to have interfered with the plan of Yenagoa is this one-storey structure belonging to the Governor. On the advice of the CCDA that is concerned with development control of the state, the house was marked since last year for demolition. And you know we have awarded contract for the dualisation of the Opolo road”.
Responding to questions, Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ehwrudjakpor, said the demolition has been on for sometime and listed the areas to include, Ovom, Igbogene, Imgbi, Diete-Spiff and Eradiri road expansion.
Ehrwudjakpor also admonished land developers to put into consideration certain factors such as high tension lines, water lines and other facilities before constructing their houses as Government was making efforts to correct the mistakes that have already been made.
He said: “We also want to have adequate distance between your house and the power lines and utility lines so what we are doing now is to ensure that those provided for in the town planning laws of the Federation which are not laws localized to Bayelsa State be implemented to the best of our ability. For example when we want to carry out maintenance or in case there is any accident and a power line is close to your house and a pole breaks, it will fall on your house and you will get electrocuted.”
