GOVERNMENT TO CONSTRUCT PEDESTRIAN WALKWAYS ON DUAL CARRIAGEWAYS, SERVES REMOVAL NOTICES

By Chukwuka Ugokwe

The Anambra State Government has announced plans to construct pedestrian walkways and utility corridors along the newly completed Agulu–Ekwulobia and Agulu–Nnewi dual carriageways to enhance pedestrian safety and improve human movement.

To facilitate the project, officials of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development on July 21, served 14-day removal notices on owners of structures encroaching on the approved road corridors.

The enforcement exercise, led by the Head of Development Control in the ministry, Mrs Ngozi Okwudili, covered Agulu, Nanka and Ekwulobia communities.

Speaking during the exercise, Okwudili said the dual carriageways were originally designed with dedicated spaces for pedestrian walkways and utility lines, describing the encroachment by some property owners and business operators as a violation of the approved road design.

“Government has directed that the approved setbacks must be respected. There is a need to provide pedestrian walkways to guarantee the safety of road users,” she said.

Okwudili reaffirmed the government’s commitment to providing the safety infrastructure to protect pedestrians, especially schoolchildren, traders and commuters who use the roads daily.

She also advised business owners against occupying pedestrian walkways and other public safety infrastructure, noting that such activities impede the free movement of people.

As part of its routine development control operations, the ministry demolished illegal structures obstructing an access road in Aguluzigbo, Anaocha Local Government Area.

The team also served a removal notice on the owner of a plaza under construction at Afor Market, Nawfia, in Njikoka Local Government Area, for allegedly contravening the state’s physical planning laws, including developing the property without an approved building permit.

Chukwuka Ugokwe is of the Ministry of Information and Value Reformation, Anambra State