By Muhammad Abdullahi
Worried about the growing infractions on approved building plans, the FCT Development Control Department (DCD) yesterday raided some mega buildings construction sites in Wuse II and Central Business District of Abuja.
In particular, DCD officials accompanied by a joint team of security operatives stormed the affected places with their bulldozer, and removed some contravening structural elements of a mega residential building located at Seguela street, Wuse II.
They equally evacuated construction materials and waste, allegedly causing flooding in the area.
Also, the DCD officials visited and issued a stop work notice on an elongated Burgalow by the perimeter fence of an edifice undergoing renovations, adjacent Ministry of Transport building in the Central Area.
Explaining the exercise in Wuse II, Assistant Director, Building Inspectorate, North Division of the Development Control Department, Engineer Mohammed Hadi, decried the level of infringement by the contractor handling the project.
Hadi, who is in charge of the area said the officials were at the construction sites, so as to stop the contractor and developer, as their actions were not in accordance with the Abuja Master plan.
He explained that approval granted to the developer on 20 August, 2020 is for five suspended floors (deckings), which it has already reached that level, but from the DCD’s observations, there is a clear intention that the contractor wants to make an additional floor.
” The contractor also failed to submit design and details of the building, so subsequent stages of building approval were not granted. They are not supposed to be working, since a committee was set up to look at the whole thing and proposed a way forward to the management, but they didn’t even allow us to finish the work, as they resumed work on site.
“We have mechanised cutters (tools that cut both concrete and steel), which we intend to use to cut the extra structural elements that are not supposed to be in place”, he stressed, adding that”the neighbours have complained that the contractor’s crane crosses their own compound, so it’s liable to accident, as it may experience a slip or whatever. We equally issued a caution, but up till it has been removed, they didn’t anything about it,
“There is a heap of construction materials and waste outside the building, which is also a contravention as it’s a threats to others in the area even as they blocked the drains along the road, because of their activities”.
Similarly, Hope Thompson, an Assistant Director with the DCD, who led officials to the contravening site in Central Area, warned that the Department at expiration of the mandatory 21 days abatement notice will demolish the Burgalow causing infractions on the site.
According to him, “We served them about two weeks ago, so we are counting, and at the end of the mandatory 21 days notice, we are coming to remove the structure.
“We had served them the relevant notice, they are still working. So we are waiting for the time to elapse, so that nobody will accuse us of not abiding by the rules of engagement.