Edo allocates 35,000 hectares for housing

The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has said his administration has allocated a total of 35,000 hectares for housing and industrial development projects in some towns and cities.

He disclosed this when he received the executive members of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) led by their President, Johnbull Amayaevbo, on a courtesy visit to his office in Benin City.

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He told them that, “We are making available about 35,000 hectares for housing and industrial development in several cities in the state. This will be done in partnership with communities as we are not dispossessing anyone of their land. The Land Use Act is clear. All the communities will be carried along and made to understand what we are doing.

“We are planning new towns and developing and opening up industrial estates for production. We need professional support to help us obtain the manpower we need to do these things properly. We will need a lot of support from the institution and its professional members. We will collaborate to run training to build human capacity that will contribute effectively to this vision.

“Over the last decade, we have had a breakdown of law and order in land administration in Edo State, but today, my team and I are trying to change the narrative and reenact and manage the built environment.”

On his part, Amayaevbo noted that the various policies and reforms of the state government were already yielding positive outcomes, adding that the pragmatic reforms were aimed at making the state an investment destination.