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From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Enugu State Government has vowed to remove every obstruction on sanitary drainage in Enugu metropolis, if those that erected them failed to do so within a stipulated period.
Chairman of Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA), Uche Anya, stated this during a town hall meeting with residents of Uwani Layout, at the weekend.
Anya said over 1,500 landlords, tenants, caretakers and other stakeholders in the area agreed at the meeting that they would cooperate with the government to restore the drainage line which several of them had blocked with structures.
He lamented that such obstruction has over the years caused perennial devastating flooding in the area.
“We had a town hall meeting with residents of Uwani, we invited 1,500 landlords, stakeholders, caretakers and the essence was to discuss the urban renewal policy of the incumbent administration as it applies to Uwani.
“We discovered that all our sanitary drains, the environmental sanitary drain system are blocked. Some people have built on it, some have turned it into commercial centres, some even brazenly encroached on it and they are telling us, ‘aah, oga leave am like dat’.
“So, today we had a fruitful dialogue and we unanimously agreed that the landlords, the property stakeholders will support the government to re-establish the sanitary drains and that they will need appropriate notices so that those that have built on the drains will remove them quietly.
“We also agreed that after the expiration of the notice and they don’t remove it, the government will remove it at the cost of the person that built it. We also agreed that we should plant trees anywhere we can find space in Uwani and also have some form of green areas. We also agreed that street trading will not be allowed in Uwani
“We shall also go to Achara Layout, Garriki, every place in Enugu municipality. We’re starting with Uwani because Uwani was the first city centre of Enugu. So, we’re going back to basics,” the development control boss said.
Two residents, Chijioke Enekwachi and Ebele Orji, expressed happiness over the harmonious nature of the meeting, noting that it enabled them to understand the implications of building on drainage lines.
Enekwachi said the on-the-spot assessment was an eye opener to them, noting that it has now dawned on them that human activities on the drainage were responsible for flooding in the area.
Orji said: “We went round with him and he showed us round and in the process, illegal structures were discovered and marked for removal. We actually saw that those illegal structures were not good, particularly the generator house that was sandwiched with an electric pole and we are grateful for everything.”
