The Zamfara State House of Assembly has lamented that it was apparently unsatisfied, disturbed and worried over the attitude of some unscrupulous government officials as well as the general public on indiscriminate allocation and erection of illegal structures on government buildings and reserved areas in Gusau, the state capital.
The House noted that this include all other Local Government Areas of the state, saying that these structures were erected without due adherence to the laid down rules, saying that it has in its last plenary passed a resolution, suspending the continuation of such illegality forthwith.
The House has also directed its committee on lands, Housing and town planning to immediately swing into action to fully investigate the legality or otherwise of such indiscriminate erection of such structures and report back to plenary within two months from yesterday.
Speaker, Nasiru Mu’azu Magarya who presided over plenary mandated for far reaching recommendations and resolutions after allowing the sponsor of the motion, Deputy House leader, Hon Nasiru Bello Lawal Bungudu to set the ball rolling by calling on his colleagues to critically observe how the general public in conjunction with some unscrupulous government officials in the state who are in custody of land allocation and town planing succeeded in distorting the Gusau master plan.
According to him, by extension the entire master plan of the state is distorted through this dubious behaviour of illegal allocation of lands and erection of structures within government buildings and reserve areas.
Citing different locations in Gusau, the state capital where such illegality exist in the open by turning government reserve areas to plazas and market places just to buttress his point, Hon Nasiru Bello Lawal said such shameful acts exist only in Zamfara State when compared with other sister states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, stressing that such unwholesome acts cannot be practicable in Kano or Kaduna States.
Hon. Lawal Bungudu wondered why statutory government agencies responsible for securing urban and regional planning for Zamfara State folds their arms and allow the proliferations of such illegality to continue unabated since inception of the state till date.
In their speeches, both the House leader, Hon Faruk Musa Dosara, Deputy Chief Whip, Hon Ibrahim Muhammad Tela Bukkuyum, Hon Abdulnasir Ibrahim Gayari, Hon Nura Dahiru Sabon Birnin Dan Ali as well as Hon Sani Dahiru Adabka unanimously agreed with the submissions of their colleagues and strongly recommend that all these illegal structures currently going on across the state be stopped forthwith.
After carefully listening to all the arguments advanced by different House members, the chief presiding officer of the House, Hon. Nasiru Mu’azu Magarya ordered the standing House Committee on lands, Housing and town planning to investigate all these allegations and event went further to give them eight terms of reference that will aid them in carrying out their assignment with ease and report back to plenary within two months from yesterday.
Part of the terms of reference of the committee include to determine the existence of Gusau master plan and strategic infrastructural plan.