FCT MInister, Muhammad Musa BelloMinister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has said that he is already thinking of remodeling Abuja mass housing scheme after that of Lagos in view of the dwindling land.
“In applying the concept of affordable housing, we should now start thinking of high rise buildings. I recall in Lagos that civil servants had high rise buildings in Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Surulere.
“This is the concept we now have to start looking at because massive land are simply no longer available and you will be surprised with what you can do with half a hectare.”
The minister, who received in audience today, March 4, the newly sworn-in Head of Civil Service of the Federation of Nigeria, Dr. Folasade Yemi Esan, stressed the need for partnership with relevant stakeholders for the purpose of providing more affordable houses for civil servants, saying that what is now suitable for such mass and affordable housing are high rise buildings.
“What we have observed is that the concept of building that hitherto was done here in Abuja may be 20 or 25 years ago. But for the affordable housing, it is no longer sustainable, in the sense that land is simply not available in the areas that are accessible by all the means of transportation and more importantly, where there is infrastructure.”
Muhammad Musa Bello said that with a strong collaboration, a robust high capacity bus system could be worked out to meet the transportation needs of civil servants, adding that it would greatly ease the hardship faced by civil servants in transporting themselves to and from work.
Dr Folashade Yemi Esan had solicited the assistance of the FCTA to improve the welfare of civil servants across the country, especially in the areas of affordable housing and transportation.
She said that it is worrisome that many civil servants cannot afford to own their own homes as a result of which the Federal Government introduced the Federal Integrated Staff Housing) scheme, designed to enable civil servants own houses at affordable rates.
She said that over 50,000 civil servants had signed up for the scheme and requested the FCT Administration to expedite action on the provision of land for the programme.
