El-Rufai Warns KASUPDA Against Indiscriminate Demolition During Land Recovery Exercise

demolishedGovernor Nasir el-Rufai on Friday cautioned the Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority against indiscriminate marking of buildings for demolition in the ongoing land recovery exercise in the state.
This is just as he reiterated government’s determination to continue with the exercise aimed at developing the state.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, the governor noted that the public should not entertain fear over the exercise as all cases would be handled carefully by the government.
The governor, while warning the agency for the exercise, said only property encroaching on government’s schools and hospitals, must be marked for the recovery of the land.
According to him, on no account must the agency go beyond their brief by marking for demolition property not approved by the government for the exercise.
El-Rufai explained that local government had no role in the land recovery process other than gathering and forwarding relevant information to the appropriate agencies for action.
The governor said in the statement, “The Kaduna State Government has announced its determination to recover lands belonging to public institutions. This applies to lands that have been illegally excised, carved-out or alienated in a manner that contradicts the security, orderly environment and expansion prospects of the affected schools, hospitals and other public institutions.
“In restoring the integrity of these lands, the government has taken steps to ensure that the recovery exercise is conducted in a fair and orderly manner that upholds public interest and conducive to social harmony.
“Therefore, all agencies involved in the implementation of the land recovery exercise, must note and abide by these considerations:
“There will be no marking of buildings or plots, or the delivery of stop-work or recovery notices until proper surveys and assessment of maps have established the boundaries of the affected institutions, and the extent of the encroachments they have suffered.
“The governor’s written approval must be obtained before any action is undertaken to initiate recovery processes based on the surveys and maps showing these encroachments.
“Approvals for necessary action will not be granted except it is evident that the layouts, containing the excisions, are illegal or irregular, and are clearly inimical to the purpose of the affected institutions in such a manner that cannot be prudently remedied.
“Where the boundaries that have survived encroachment are considered sufficient for the functioning of these public institutions, other actions short of recovery will be taken on the encroached lands”.