Land use planning report ready soon – NITP
Benue plans resettlement for rural dwellers
National President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Dr Femi Olomola, has said that a draft of the Land Use Planning Report (LUPAR) will be made ready in time for the institute’s next national conference and annual general meeting slated for October in Ilorin, Kwara State.
Olomola, a Fellow of the NITP (FNITP), made the disclosure during the institute’s 17th edition of the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Programme (MCPDP) that held recently in Kaduna, Kaduna State. The two-day forum had: “Development of a Multi User Template for Land Use Planning and Analysis Reporting (LUPAR) in Nigeria,” as its theme.
Olomola, while delivering a keynote address during the opening of the well-attended workshop, described LUPAR as a novelty seeking to expand the frontiers of Site Analysis Report (SAR) applications beyond the tradition of planning approvals, adding that the MCPDP was aimed at building consensus on the new template among the practitioners and allow for inputs before the report will be presented in October.
Conceived by the Femi Olomolaled administration, the LUPAR will build on the existing SAR processes and procedures, and add details of geographic references and information relating to building types and conditions, title deeds, local land use and development setting, and the permits granted on property.
The expanded areas of its application cut across various sectors of the economy, many of which have direct relevance to the financial sector and regulatory agencies.
According to the town planners, the new format LUPAR, in addition to other benefits, can become a very useful and authentic instrument that supports applications for opening of corporate bank accounts, process bank loans, make requests for Insurance cover, and incorporate/register new companies with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
It will also address the traditional requirements of applications for building plan approval/permits, issuance of certificates of occupancies (Cs-of-O), and potential value to security and regulatory agencies with oversight functions on crime and enforcement of standards, among others.
Olomola said: “With LUPAR, it is hoped that 95% of all problems related to lack of data, inadequate personnel and stress on development control will be significantly addressed. This shall lead to situations where our colleagues in government can now rely on LUPAR as a companion in their decision making processes. A combination of two or three LUPARs in the same neighbourhood will, if carefully joined together, provide an updated base map of the neighbourhood at zero cost to the Town Planning Authority.”
While expressing satisfaction at the turnout of members at the MCPDP, Chairman of the Kaduna State Chapter of the NITP, Muhammad Lawal Ubale, disclosed that Kaduna has been fortunate since its inception to have had plans for its development. Plans are underway by the Benue State Government to resettle the Tiv speaking rural dwellers for development purpose.
Tsenongo Abancha, the special adviser on rural development and cooperatives, said so, Wednesday, in Makurdi, adding that the scattered settlement pattern of the Tiv people became a major challenge to the government.
“Settlement pattern is a major challenge in Tiv land. It is difficult to bring infrastructural development to them because they are not living in clusters. We are planning a resettlement pattern that will encourage the rural people to live in clusters for development purposes.”
Abancha explained that it was easier for government to provide amenities such as electricity, water and roads network in Idoma land than in the Tiv areas because the former lived in clusters.
He added that the plan to resettle the Tiv people would include using Daudu, a cluster village along MakurdiLafia highway, as a model to encourage the rural dwellers to stay in clusters.
“The cluster living would enable the villagers have access to more farmlands and better security network in the face of consistent threats to their lives and property during invasions,” the special adviser said.