Niger Delta
Estate Surveyor Tasks Wike On GPH
Former Chairman of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) in Rivers State, Mr. Emmanuel Mark has urged the State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike to make the development of Greater Port Harcourt City a priority in his second tenure.
Mr. Mark, who made the appeal during a chat with The Tide at the weekend said considering the fact that the Governor has given adequate attention to road infrastructure during the first tenure, the new city development should be part of his second term agenda.
The estate surveyor opined that the City of Port Harcourt was expanding and therefore there is need to revive the urban renewal policy towards addressing future housing challenges that will worsen in the next few years.
“We don’t know yet what the Governor has in plan for his second tenure, but I believe that the Greater Port Harcourt City Development should be given some attention”, Mark stated.
He reasoned that what the Greater Port Harcourt City needs now is to construct infrastructure that can attract investors and housing development.
“Once the infrastructure is put in place every other thing will fall into place”, Mark said, if you look at how the city is expanding you will discover that all developments are going toward that area”.
Commenting on how to incorporate right of way into government policies and programmes in the built sector, the former NIESVI National Publicity Secretary explained that right of way is beyond acquisition and construction.
“Rights of way is all encompassing, it covers a whole lot of community relations, and it’s a multidisciplinary area that covers all sorts of infrastructure such as railway, pipeline, telecommunication, waterlines and others”, he said.
Mark disclosed that the International Rights of Way (IRA) Association of Nigeria is being natured newly as a body of experts in the built sector to provide expertise and ethical advice on how to develop and implement policies and programmes in the sector.
He pointed out that development is a continuum and need to be natured in such a way that future generations will benefit from it.