The Commissioner for Lands, Survey, and Solid Minerals in Benue, Mr Bernard Unenge, says the 23 local government areas of the state have been designated as urban towns.
Unenge announced this on Thursday during the unveiling of the state’s Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability Programme (SFTAS) in Gboko Local Government Area of the state.
He stated that the state assembly had already given approval, stressing that it would soon be gazetted.
The commissioner said that there were a lot of benefits that would be tapped from the designation.
He said that now that all the headquarters of local government areas were now designated as urban towns, it would be easier for SFTAS to collate data and process same in the manner that would be acceptable to the World Bank.
“The grants are to be used principally for developmental purposes only and through the data the state and the World Bank will know where to allocate a particular amenity.
“It will help the state to allocate amenities based on priority,” Unenge said.
Meanwhile, the State Project Manager, Benue Geographic Information System (BENGIS), Mr Mario Bajouk, said that SFTAS would help to address issues of land encroachment as well as insecurity.
“Once the land is captured, the boundaries are automatically known, thereby, eliminating land disputes.
“It will also help in locating even solid minerals and all the bottlenecks associated with land matters will be addressed,” Bajouk said.
Also, the state Project Manager of SFTAS, Mr Samuel Chir, said that he wanted the state to be among the first to access the grant and sued for maximum cooperation from the people.
The traditional ruler of Gboko Gboko Local Government Area, Chief Gabriel Shosun and the Chairman of Gboko Local Government Area, Mr James Kachina, said that the initiative was quite lofty, adding that they would give it the desired support.(NAN)
