(Demolition of buildings in Ondo. Photo Credit: Premuim Times)
In an effort to minimize floods and enforce physical planning regulations, the Ondo State official has started demolishing buildings and other structures built on official setbacks and rivers in Akure, the state capital.
The exercise, which began along Oyemekun Road, a major thoroughfare in the capital city, is part of a larger effort by the state government to remove developments blocking natural drainage channels, according to a statement signed by Williams Oni, Director of Information of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.
The Ondo State Government has demolished structures erected on waterways and government setbacks in the state capital as part of efforts to curb flooding and erosion during the rainy season.
He stated that the operation was intended to reduce the risk of flooding and erosion during the rainy season while addressing violations of urban planning regulations that had contributed to indiscriminate development in parts of the state capital.
The demolition was jointly carried out by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Technical and Ecological Control.
Speaking during the exercise, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Sunday Olajide, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry’s Building Control Unit, Abimbola Tofowomo, warned developers and property owners against erecting buildings on waterways or within government setbacks without approval.
He said the government would continue enforcing planning regulations to promote orderly urban development, noting that the ministry had intensified monitoring and enforcement activities to ensure compliance with approved building plans.
He warned that structures found to contravene planning laws could attract sanctions, including demolition, stressing that the government would not compromise on physical planning regulations and that any structure erected in violation of approved standards, or located on government setbacks and waterways, would face appropriate enforcement measures.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Technical and Ecological Control, Elisha Ebijimi, said the affected property owners had been served notices before the demolition exercise commenced.
He explained that the operation would pave the way for the expansion of blocked waterways and the construction of concrete retaining walls to improve drainage and control erosion.
Ebijimi alleged that officials discovered deliberate attempts to obstruct drainage channels during inspections, noting that some openings designed to allow water flow had been blocked, causing water to accumulate beneath sections of the road.
He said government engineers subsequently removed part of the asphalt to drain the trapped water and assess the condition of the underlying layers.
Displaying a sample of the asphalt removed from the site, Ebijimi rejected suggestions of poor construction quality, insisting that the material exceeded the required engineering specification, noting that while the approved thickness was 100 millimetres, what was measured at the site ranged between 120 and 125 millimetres.
He added that drainage improvement works at the location are expected to be completed within two weeks, after which similar enforcement exercises would be extended to other parts of Akure and later to Ondo town.
(An apartment marked for demolition. Photo Credit: Premuim Times)