From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) has called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to address the problem of flooding.
NITP National President, Nathaniel Atebije, at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, appealed to judges to consider the safety of human lives when granting orders to developers to build estates in flood-prone areas.
Atebije said: “Actions designed to solve the problems impeded by court orders at the expense of human lives.
“What value do we place on human lives as a nation? Can the value of that whole estate be equated to the lives lost? We hereby call on judges to consider the safety of human lives when granting orders to retain inconsistent developments.
“This is an indicator of the need for continuous engagement with the various stakeholders in human settlements. No one can give what he does not have.
“For judges, and anyone for that matter, to take decisions that are favourable to environmental sustainability, they must be enlightened about physical planning and human settlements development.”
He also tasked the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to take decisive action to tackle the yearly flood challenges in the FCT.
“We call, once again, on the federal government, all state governments and the Federal Capital Territory Administration to faithfully commit to the preparation and implementation of physical development plans from the highest order to the lowest order plans to make implementation possible and impactful.
“Physical planning is not done in the head of any chief executive and is done by qualified urban and regional planners, who are available to contribute to the development of our dear nation.
“We particularly emphasize that the Federal Capital Territory needs to take decisive measures on disaster preparedness and management. The territory is back to another regime of flooding.
“Poor drainage systems have made the location flood-prone and vulnerable during the rainy season.
“The government needs to strengthen the institutional frameworks for physical planning, engage professional physical planning consultants to prepare plans and promote implementation through massive employment of town planners and allied professionals to fulfil the goals of prepared plans.
“The government must demonstrate strong political will to fund plan preparation, capacity building and enact enabling planning laws to ensure coordination of the built environment.
“Taking immediate action on this matter will be an undeniable gain of our democracy.
“Nigeria must continue to pursue vigorously and practise the concepts and principles of sustainable development to address environmental challenges and promote resilience.
“We must report realistic efforts and steps taken to implement treaties earlier signed with other nations of the world that will be coming to showcase theirs during the forthcoming World Urban Forum.”
He also called on the “Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and other stakeholders to prepare for a robust outing to Egypt in November 2024 where all nations shall gather to review the progress they have made in achieving the goals of sustainable development.”