Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, has decried the low quality of houses in some mass housing estates in the city and has described the situation as unacceptable.
The minister said this at the weekend during his investiture as the patron of the Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors and Valuers.
According to a statement by the chief press secretary to the minister, Muhammad Sule, the minister said residents of the FCT who patronised the estates need to get value for their money and assured that the administration will redress the “unholy practices in that sub-sector.”
The minister also stated that the administration and the National Assembly were already working towards the passage of the FCT Property Tax Bill, but there was a lot of work to be done before the take-off of the Property Tax, even when passed into law by the National Assembly, one of which includes evaluation of property.
Senator Mohammed further disclosed that the administration was soon to start enumeration of beneficiaries of mass housing programme for the purpose of issuing them certificates of occupancy, to beef up its data base and enable the owners of such houses use the title documents as collateral to access credit facilities when the need arises.
The minister called for partnership with the institute to transform Abuja to an economically viable city and urged the institute to look into problem areas and assist in providing practical solutions.
Speaking earlier, the National President of the Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors and Valuers, Mr. Bode Adedeji said the greatest asset of any nation was not the oil or land it possessed but the quality of its human capacity, which his institute was prepared to offer to the FCT administration.
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