FCT laments inadequate budgetary allocation for infrastructure

•• Decries vandalisation of public facilities

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has said that poor budgetary allocation is hampering infrastructural development in the nation’s capital.

It, however, appealed to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to work out funding mechanism to facilitate rapid development of the city.

The FCT Minister, Malam Mohammed Bello, made the appeal at the weekend, when the Chairman, RMAFC, Dr. Chris Akomas, led members the Indices and Disbursement Committee visited to the FCT.

Bello told RMAFC that Abuja remains one of the fastest growing cities in the world with yearly population growth of between seven per cent to nine per cent and needs more funding to expand the city infrastructure.

He further informed members of the RMAFC that the FCT currently has an approximate population of six million people as against the 2.5 million envisaged by the master plan at its present stage of development.
    
Malam Bello also told his guests that funding remains a challenge to the projects’ delivery. Speaking earlier, Dr. Akomas, also informed the minister that his team was in FCTA on an advocacy and sensitisation to seek the cooperation of the administration to enable it collate accurate and reliable data.
 
Akomas said members of the commission visited all the states of the Federation,   including the Ministries of Education, Water Resources and National Boundaries Commission, National Population Commission as well as other agencies.

MEANWHILE, FCTA has raised the alarm over increasing rate of vandalisation and theft of transformers, electricity cables and bridge railings.

The Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Umar Jibrin, an engineer, spoke at the unveiling of the citizens’ engagement platform in Abuja.

Gambo maintained that manhole and gully pot covers as well as telecommunication ducts have also become targets by miscreants.
According to him, the FCT administration is also encountering situations where car wash operators illegally tap into treated water lines for their activities while causing damage to roads due to substance and chemicals used by such operators.

The Secretary said findings revealed that over 25,000 different types of storm water chamber covers; gully pots and telecommunication ducts have either been stolen or vandalised.

While urging residents to support the administration against illegal and unauthorised developments around the city, he disclosed that the minister has directed FCDA to commence the process of replacing stolen and vandalised manholes and gully pot covers across the territory, adding that an audit is already ongoing to that effect.