Moved by growing urban slum in the metropolis, the Kwara State House of Assembly has called on the state’s housing corporation and Town Planning and Development Authority to stop allocating land and approving building plans on waterways in order to forestall unnecessary loss of lives and valuable properties.
It also directed that the house of Alhaji Kamaru and other buildings on water channels at the Irewolede Housing Estate in Ilorin be removed immediately to ensure free flow of storm water.
The House gave the directive in its resolutions on a report by its Committee on Land, Housing and Urban Development regarding a petition entitled: ’Save Our Soul’ by Mallam Jimoh Alabi.
The Deputy Speaker, Mr. Mathew Okedare, who presided over the sitting, said the directive became necessary so as to prevent flood related disasters in the state.
The House also directed that the land sold by the housing corporation, which stand on waterways, should be revoked and the refunds made to the buyers.
It urged the state government to reprimand the leadership of the housing corporation to check indiscriminate construction on waterways in the estate.
The lawmakers also directed the state housing corporation to as a matter of urgency upgrade the Isale Ajanaku road and open the Igbaja road in the estate with a befitting drainage system as captured in the 2016 budget.