By Peter Usman
Abuja (Nigeria) — Nigeria’s Minister for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Musa Bello, has urged investors to take advantage of the huge business opportunities that would be offered by completion of the FCT Light Rails Mass Transit System.
Bello said the entire rail transit corridor offers an array of business opportunities for restaurants, parking lots and shopping malls to mention but a few.
The Minister made the request while fielding questions from journalists in his office in Abuja.
According to him, the large swathe of space on the rail line corridors contains 12 stations, including the central metro station near the World Trade Centre in the Central Business District hoping that the network would substantially increase economic activities in the FCT .
On why there has not been land allocation since he assumed office, the minister lamented the abuse of the land processes in the past, resulting in large incidences of land use mismatch.
He stated that almost all the phases within the Federal Capital City have been allocated except for Phase 5.
“FCT Administration needs over N80billion to provide infrastructure in the already allocated districts. We are grappling with a situation where plots were allocated in a manner that outstripped the capacity of the Administration to provide infrastructure.
“Most beneficiaries commenced development under the pressure for accommodation and today we have houses built on spaces earmarked for roads, natural water ways, public utility lines and so on.” he said.
Drawing analogy from other advanced cities of the world, the Minister stated that a time would come when land finishes and therefore appealed to the inhabitants to avoid the bubble of land activities and businesses which usually resulted in needless speculations and scam.
Bello stated that time has come for people to patronise secondary channels like mortgages and other similar sources.
He advised Nigerians to be patient with the Administration, saying development is a process and a not switch.
Abuja, he explained, is a consciously planned and executed city in tandem with a master-plan.
On street lighting, Bello explained that the FCT was contending with the spate of vandalisation of public utilities by criminals, stating that FCT has 300km of streetlights and given the rate of one pole per 10 meters distance, the Administration, has over 3000 poles.
He further revealed that the Administration achieved a milestone when it resolved the issue of flawed billing system which resulted in a very huge liability, adding that FCT Administration had paid off all confirmed bills it inherited ensuring that all power consumed by the Administration is metered to ensure appropriate billing.
The Minister also pointed to the challenge of rationing of power by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC} stressing that the Administration was making arrangements for off grid solution to the perennial challenge of street lighting in the FCT and consequently the Administration was looking the way of solar panels and generators as back-up for power during off-grid times.
He expressed delight that some infrastructure projects would go off the budge line this year and next year as works on them have been completed or are about to.
His words, “Our next attention is to the satellite towns. Work is now going on the Dutse Alhaji – Kubwa road, Karu Township infrastructure – for which the National Executive Council has approved N2.6 Billion; as well as the Karshi – Apo roads among others.”
