CRITICAL ROLES OF TOWN PLANNERS STRESSED AS GOVT, OTHERS CHARGE TO GIVE SUPPORT
The critical roles of Town Planners have been highlighted as Governments at all levels have been called upon to provide political will to make Nigeria great and to avert adverse effect of building without professional planners.
The Director of Urban and Regional Development Department Federal Ministry of Works and Housing Abuja, Town Planner Olasunkanmi Dunmoye made this call while speaking with journalists at 2021 Annual National Conference and Workshop of Directors of Town Planning and Town Planning Experts in Akure, Ondo State.
He said: “What we are witnessing here today is an annual event. This is a conference combined with workshop for all Town Planning Directors in Nigeria. We come together annually so that we can discuss current issues as regard the town planning in Nigeria and whatever we arrived at will be presented to the National Council next year.
“The theme of this conference is ‘Imperatives for National Physical Planning Standards’ we want to have a national standard that cut across all states of the federation and whatever we agreed to do will still be taken to stakeholders’ forum for ratification in no distant time.
While speaking on incessant building collapse in Nigeria, Mr. Dunmoye said the major reasons for building collapse are lack of professional handling projects stressing that quacks are rampant among those handing building projects and use of substandard materials.
He therefore called on house owners to endeavour to make use of experts in handling any housing project which he said is far better and cheaper than building collapse because of substandard materials.
In the same way, he stressed the critical roles of town planners as most important to the peaceful and aesthetic pleasure of the nation, calling on government at all levels to make use of the Department of Town Planning in all the states and federal projects.