Abia Govt Gives Land Owners 90 Days To Validate Their Property Ownership

DETERMINED to give Aba and it’s environs a master plan, Abia state government has issued a 90 day moratorium for property owners in the state to register their landed properties with the government.

Briefing journalists in Aba, General Manager, Greater Aba Development Authority,GADA, Arc. Uche Ukeje, disclosed that the move is meant to provide data for planning purposes to enable the government serve the people better, especially in the provision of social amenities and services.

He also explained that the major idea behind the registration is to collect data and not to general revenue.

Ukeje stated that the Governor Alex Otti administration is committed to work out and implement a master plan for the city of Aba.

He also stated that the move would assist property owners in the city to have legal documents which will authenticate their properties.

“As part of the process of doing a master plan,we need to take stock of what we have. Ordinarily,when you build your buildings without approval, there are penalties and there are things you must do when you are going to regularize.

“But Governor Otti in his magnanimity,has done Christmas to the residents of Aba. He is offering a 90 day moratorium to anyone who has a building, residential or commercial that you have done without approval. Come in and get the building approved. The basic idea is the collection of data,not IGR. It is not about money making. We need to make this clear.

“In the modern world, it is difficult to plan without data. If you want to site a hospital or school or any other facility, the first thing you will do is to ,what is your market? Who are you serving?

“As it is today, we don’t have data, most of the things happened outside of the system. We dont have information on how many people we are serving. You can’t say this part of the city requires more hospital or school than the other because the information is not available.So,what we are doing is to provide the government with the information it needs to serve the people better.

“And what is happening now is that there is a 90 day moratorium from the Governor to the residents of Aba. Whether you live here or not,as long as you have a property ,walk into any of the five town planning authorities to get your documents approved.

“Once it is done,you have many advantages. The first is that you are able to have a legal document from the state acknowledging the existence of the property. If tomorrow,as we are expanding the roads,and that building happens to be along the line and is affected,you will be compensated because the government is aware of the building. But on the other hand,if it is not documented, if such thing happens, the government will see the property as a vacant place. If you come, we will let you know that there is no building in that place because it is not approved.