...As el-Rufai Encourages NICON to Invest in Mass Housing
Housing
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, has encouraged the management of the NICON Insurance Corpor-ation to invest in mass housing project.
The minister, while receiving the Chairman, Board of Directors of the company in his office recently, said that the development of the Federal Capital Territory required the collective effort of the government and the private sector.
He said there was need to encourage more commercial presence in the FCT, hence he gave NICON the go-ahead to commence the development of their proposed shopping mall, provided they had their title and approved building plan.
Mallam el-Rufai descri-bed NICON Insurance as the most stable insurance company in Nigeria today; and directed the management of the company to approach the parastatals under the ministry for any form of co-operation as regards their insurance business.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman, Board of Directors of NICON Insur-ance, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, stated that they came to discuss with the minister and work out ways of contributing meaningfully to the development of the FCT.
The FCT minister's approval of NICON's proposed housing project is in line with his policy of encouraging private sector participation in the development of Abuja, and also in tune with the 2002 National Housing and Urban Development Policy.
The minister had said recently that one of the major challenges of the FCT was the provision of decent and affordable houses to match the demand of its ever-increasing population.
"In order to appreciably meet this challenge, the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory has evolved policy of public/private sector participation in this sector.
"The policy involves the allocation of land to reputable private sector developers. They, in turn, would be responsible for the provision of secondary infrastructure and construction of specified number of housing units", the minister said, adding that on completion of development, the houses would be sold to the members of the public on favourable terms.
"In pursuance of this policy", the minister noted, "about ten estate development companies are currently designing and planning more than 30,000 housing units in various locations in the FCT".
Mallam el-Rufai, however, hinted that in spite of the policy, there were some housing and office building projects that the MFCT was solely responsible for their construction. Some of those projects were started during the past administration, but a number of them were abandoned after attaining various stages of development, largely due to financial constraints.
"We have closely studied these projects and have taken measures to complete some within the current fiscal year. In this regard, outstanding liabilities on the projects have been compiled and submitted to the Committee on the Settlement of Outstanding Liabilities for scrutiny and subsequent settlement. Various amounts have been earmarked for each of these projects in the 2004 budget", the minister hinted.
Some of these projects include the Terrace Housing Programme, which consists of 183 housing units of 2 and 3-bedroom terrace houses, distributed across Maitama, Wuse II and Kubwa; the Replacement Housing Scheme, conceived to provide accommodation to civil servants displaced from the National Assem-bly Quarters, Apo; and the Legislative Aides Housing, which its first phase was initiated in July 2001.
In a related development, the Board of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) has been dissolved.
The President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has also approved the appointment of Engr. Mohammed Sani Alhassan as the Executive Secretary of FCDA, to replace Engr. Charles Dorgu.
Until his appointment, Engr. Alhassan was the Executive Director (works & technical services) FCDA.
Born on January 1, 1955, in Suleija, Niger State, Alhassan graduated from the Ahmadu Bello Univer-sity, Zaria, in 1978, with a Bachelor of Engine-ering (Civil).
He started his career with the Niger State Govern-ment in 1980, before joining the FCDA in 1982, as a senior civil engineer. From there he rose to the ranks of Director, Engineering Serv-ices; and later, Executive Director (works & technical services).
Alhassan is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
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