BY CHARLES OGBONNAYA.
Trouble looms for quacks and individuals who work with unapproved building plans, as the Abia State Ministry of Housing has expressed readiness to put up a bill that will checkmate the activities of quacks, roadside block moulders and unapproved building plans which has caused building collapse in recent times.
Interacting with a cross-section of journalists in Umuahia, Abia State capital, the Commissioner for Housing, Hon. Ugboaja Theophilus Odionyenfe said, ” I told them that the best option is to give me a bill, so we are putting up a bill. It is on the final stage. I will send it to my former colleagues at the State House of Assembly. When we get it passed, it will become a law. Nobody will dare tamper with that. That is exactly what I am doing, very soon, it will be read in the statehouse, debated and passed into law by God’s special grace”.
The Housing Commissioner insisted that days are gone when unprofessionals will corner the State Chief Executive and deceive him that they are contractors/building engineers, only to make a mess of the work.
“I have about 148 staff among them are seasoned builders, seasoned architects, seasoned surveyors and everything about building is in the housing ministry. I wouldn’t know why some people will go and corner the Chief Executive of the state and tell him, we can build. Why are we paying them? I think that system must stop. We are going to bring it to an end. Every other public building in Abia must be built by the housing ministry. I have made my intentions known and that is how it should be”, Hon Ugboaja insisted.
He admitted that the sudden visit of Corona Virus Disease, COVID-19 slowed down the pace of the ministry but revealed that the ministry has cleaned up the state Commissioner’s quarters,
the Governor lodge in Abuja undergoing heavy renovation is nearing completion, as one of the ongoing projects and that soon the new Government umuahia at Government layout will kick off as all discussion towards that have been looked into.
We are working on one of the moribund estates in Arochukwu local government area of the state among other numerous projects scattered across the state.
