Vacant estates spread in oil-rich Port Harcourt

• …High rent, insecurity, scare residents as state threatens illegal squatters

Many exquisite housing estates with unique architecture and attractive natural scenery that dot the city of Port Harcourt are vacant, while others remain uncompleted years after construction commenced.

Our reporter learnt that several of the estates in the city are yet to be occupied because of reasons ranging from high cost of rent to inability of the developers to complete some of the estates. Those yet to be completed are as a result of poor funding and disagreement between the developers and their partners.

The N82 billion Rainbow Town Estate located at the Trans-Amadi business and industrial district of Port Harcourt in Rivers State is one of the many uncompleted and unoccupied housing estates in the state.

The estate which occupies 23.4 hectares of land that will deliver 1,181 residential choice houses comprising terraces, detached and high-rise condominiums in a mixed upscale estate was an IPP project between Rivers State Government and a new generation bank.

The partnership deal was sealed by the former governor, Peter Odili, as part of his administration’s affordable housing policy for the people of the state. The estate has the Point Block towers, comprising nine blocks of 15-storey towers and 468 apartments; City Block towers made up of 16 blocks of 12-storey towers of 640 apartments; 13 detached homes consisting of five-bedroom stand-alone apartments on two levels, and 60 terrace apartments made up of four-bedroom semi-detached apartments on three levels.

The estate has a 15-storey iconic tower which is supposed to be the commercial hub of offices, convention center, movie theaters, shops, restaurants, short-stay inns and a helipad. Other support facilities in the estate are a police post, perimeter fencing and fire station, eco-centre that will serve as the nerve center for power, water and sewer plants, broadband internet connectivity, telephone as well as data outlets and security surveillance. Other facilities include a medical clinic, school, shopping arcade, club house and outdoor recreational facilities.

But the housing estate which had attained about 90% completion was abandoned because of poor funding.

Also, the state government-owned Iriebe housing estate in Obio Akpor Local Government Area has been taken over by land speculators and illegal occupants. The expansive Iriebe housing estate located at the Aba/Port Harcourt express road was constructed by former governor Peter Odili and was designed to have low cost housing estate for the middle class.

The housing estate sitting on more than 30000 hectares of land was inaugurated in 2000 to provide accommodation to low income earners at subsidised rates. Several buildings were constructed in the estate and were given out on build-on- buyer basis.

Subsequently, more buildings were constructed but many of the buildings were not occupied for unexplainable reasons. This development forced residents of Port Harcourt, especially civil servants in the state that could not afford the high cost of accommodation, to move into the estate.

Governor Nyesom Wike at the inception of his administration directed the illegal occupants of the estate to vacate, but the directive fell on deaf ears.

The governor, in October last year, inaugurated a special task force for recovery of government properties. The taskforce has taken off but yet to visit Iriebe.

The taskforce, last week, warned illegal occupants of all government estates and properties to vacate or face sanction from the state government. Iriebe housing estate is one of the estates listed by the state government to have been illegally occupied.

Our correspondent gathered that other private estates that have not been fully occupied are: Gulf Estate located at the popular Odili Road, The NAF Harmony Estate located at the premises of the Nigerian Airforce Base near Eliozu, and Kanah Estate.

At the Gulf Estate, a large portion of the estate has been completed, with a small part of it occupied, while the remaining sections are being developed by private developers.

The NAF Harmony Estate has been completed but has not been given out.

A Port Harcourt based Estate Valuer; Emeka Eguzozie, told our reporter that estate business is experiencing lull in the state as a result of poor economy, insecurity and erroneous impression that every resident of Rivers is rich.

He said that estate business is not booming because a lot of people cannot afford the high cost of rent, adding that insecurity in some parts of the state has also contributed to the present lull faced in the business.

“There is lull in estate business in Rivers State because of poor economy. The cost of acquiring estate is high, and difficult economic realities have affected the business. Residents of Port Harcourt prefer to acquire their own properties and move away from payment of high cost of rent. There is also insecurity which is taking a toll on the state. There is a notion that Port Harcourt is an oil city and that every resident makes so much money from oil. So this affects the cost of estates,” he said.

Rivers State urban renewal policy has also contributed to the lull in estate development in the state. The establishment of the Greater Port Harcourt Development City by the state government has made it difficult for private developers to acquire land for property development.

The Greater Port Harcourt Development Authority has four Local Government Areas of Port Harcourt, Obio Akpor, Ikwerre and Oyigbo as its catchment areas.

The four Local Government Areas where the city is designated have become no go area for private developers. Developers are subjected to a rigorous process of deed approval before they can get any land approved for development.

An estate valuer, Christian Akpojo, said many housing estates are yet to be occupied because of high cost. He said many Nigerians are poorly remunerated and cannot afford the cost of living in an estate.