Right-of-Way: Bayelsa demolishes Dickson’s private home

Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson

Bayelsa State Government on Wednesday demolished a one-storey private building owned by Governor Seriake Dickson because it obstructed the Right-of-Way as well as intruding on the state Capital City Master Plan.             .

The demolished building, which had been marked by the Capital City Development Authority on June 28, 2012, was situated along the Opolo/AIT Road, Yenagoa, the state capital.

The demolition, which began about 12.48 pm, was supervised by the Deputy Governor John Jonah; Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ehwrudjakpor; Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Markson Fefegha; Commissioner for State Capital City Development; and Mr. Konugha Zuwa.

Other structures affected by the demolition exercise included that of the Director General of the State Agency for the Control of AIDS,  Dr. Temple Iluma.

Jonah told journalists that the location of the Governor’s house obstructed the Right-of-Way, hence there would be no compensation for him.

He said, “In line with the development control of the CCDA and urban renewal of the state, the government awarded contract for the dualisation of the road. Anyone who has built structures on the Right-of-Way should expect such buildings to be demolished.

“We have been talking about the master plan as well as some areas where we have to carry out urban renewal. For the master plan, we expect every builder to go and get clearance before he or she starts to build to see the extent that he can go outside the road.

“One of the houses we have found to have interfered with the plan of Yenagoa is this one-storey structure belonging to the Governor. On the advice of the CCDA that is concerned with development control of the state, the house was marked since last year for demolition. And you know we have awarded contract for the dualisation of the Opolo Road.”

However, some Yenagoa residents on Wednesday said the exercise was politically-motivated, notwithstanding that the governor’s house was affected.

The residents, who claimed that only a section of Dickson’s building was demolished, said the exercise was a strategy to enable the government to demolish buildings of perceived opponents without causing public outrage.

None of the complaining residents however agreed to be quoted.

In his comment, Ehwrudjakpor said the demolition had been on for some time and listed the affected areas to include Ovom, Igbogene, Imgbi, Diete_Spiff and Eradiri road expansion.