Abuja resettlement: FCTA to build 3,789 houses

The FCT Administration has commenced the building of 3,789 houses in three resettlement camps for the resettlement of the Federal Capital Territory original inhabitants.

The FCT Director of Resettlement and Compensation, Mr. Festus Esekhile made this known after the weekly FCT Executive Committee meeting in Abuja .

The director said these resettlement camps are located in Apo, Galywi/Shere and Wasa in the Abuja Municipal, Bwari and Kwali Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory with costs to build houses in the various resettlement camps a ranging from 2.3 billion Naira, 7.5 billion Naira and 2.9 billion Naira respectively.

Mr. Esekhile while revealing that this amount of money excludes infrastructure that will be handled by the Satellite Towns Development Agency (STDA) assured that all major resettlement from the Federal Capital City would be completed in the next 30 months.

According to him, since the advent of the present administration of Nasir el-Rufai in 2003, over one billion Naira has been paid as compensation for economic trees and other sundry material in farm land.

The director disclosed that this year will witness a remarkable progress in resettlement and compensation because over 900 million Naira has been earmarked in the 2007 budget for that purpose.

When asked on the state of the demolished Arewa Hospital in Accra Street, the director stated that when development sprang up in the area, the Federal Capital Development Authority ordered and marked Arewa Hospital "for stop work" in 1998 which was ignored by the owner; adding that when that stop work order was given, the property was valued at N4.3 million.

He insisted that the authority is only obliged to pay compensation for the initial value of when order was issued; saying that any development afterwards can not be paid as it is the practice worldwide.