Monday, 17 October 2016
ARE THE OFFICIALS ABOVE THE LAW IN LAND MATTERS?
Despite a court ruling that the plots of land at Lugbe Extension 1 , along Airport Road, now
known as Kyami District , Abuja, belonged to MINANUEL INVESTMENT LTD purposely for
Mass Housing, some officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA ) and
the Federal Capital Development Authority ( FCDA ) have continued to re- allocate the said
parcel of land to third parties . In taking this brazen line of action, the FCTA and the FCDA
officials seem to suggest that they are above the law and do not care a hoot about the end-
goals of the anti -corruption campaign of the government of President Muhammadu
Buhari.
In a recent post in an online housing portal , ( www.housingnews .org .ng , p . 4539 ), of
March 22 , 2016 , it was reported that “ FCT Development Control Ignores Court Ruling,
approves development of hotel on demolished MINANUEL Estate Land ” . Now , this is said
to have taken place in spite of the fact that on November 11 , 2013 , Justice D . Z . Senchi
of the FCT High Court , Apo , Abuja , in Suit No . FCT /HC / CV /714 /12 had ruled that “the
fresh allocation of the plots to private individuals was illegal , null and void and the said
allocations… are hereby set aside. Accordingly , the defendants (FCT Minister , FCTA &
FCDA ) are hereby restrained from taking possession or re- allocating same or any part
thereof to any person or group of persons … . ”
The tragedy of what is going on in MINANUEL Estate Land , Abuja , is that some officials of
the FCTA and the FCDA who are arrogantly disobeying a valid court judgment are doing so
under a political structure that has President Buhari, as its head . As far as the 1999
constitution ( as amended ) is concerned , the President of Nigeria is the governor of the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ) , and the activities of the officials of the FCTA and the FCDA are subject to the control and directives of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory ( MFCT) .
As I write , there is no evidence anywhere that the judgment of Justice Senchi on this matter is on appeal. The issue at hand, therefore , is that since both parties to the case earlier resolved on November 11 , 2013 ( N.C . R Associates Ltd , suing through its lawful Attorney, MINANUEL INVESTMENT LTD & the Minister FCT & 20 rs) are satisfied with the judgment of the court as there is no pending appeal against the judgment, why is the FCT Development Control , a department of the FCDA , re -allocating the land in question to third parties? Are officials of the FCTA and the FCDA pretending not to be aware that a valid court judgment affirmed MINANUEL INVESTMENT LTD as owners of the land and also declared “ null and void the re- allocation of plots … at Lugbe Extension 1 , along Airport Road, now known as Kyami District , Abuja , to third parties …”? . Are Nigerians being told that these officials are above the law ?
From whatever perspective this matter is appraised, it must be the height of impunity for some officials of the FCTA and the FCDA to blatantly and irresponsibly re- allocate plots of land at Lugbe Extension 1 , after a court had ruled that “the evidence before the court is that the title of the Plaintiff ( MINANUEL INVESTMENT LTD ) is still extant and it is not infected by any virus of revocation ” . This is why it may have become imperative that President Buhari personally intervenes .
It is bad enough that some officials of the FCTA and the FCDA have unpatriotically decided to ridicule the judiciary by embarking on acts that clearly undermined the judgment of a court. It is even worse that in re- allocating the plots of land , some officials of the FCTA and the FCDA , using the development control department of the FCT , are parceling out MINANUEL Estate’ s land to third parties for the building of hotels, etc. Even in a banana republic , the level of impunity that has been exhibited by some officials of the FCTA and the FCDA with regard to the plots of Land at Lugbe Extension 1 , would not be condoned.
The point just has to be made that Nigeria is today a democratic society where the rule of law prevails. In this wise, the officials of the FCTA and the FCDA who are behaving as if they own Nigeria and are accountable to nobody, must realise that the President of Nigeria today is a Muhammadu Buhari, a no nonsense leader. Perhaps , rather than make jest of the law by deliberately and mischievously undermining a valid court judgment, the officials in question should simply do the bidding of the law in this instance , which is , approve the building plan for MINANUEL INVESTMENT LTD for the plots at Lugbe Extension 1 , as well as see to the removal of illegal structures on the land .
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Bulldozer in Road Construction
Bulldozer in Road Construction
Probably the most common piece of equipment in forest road construction is the bulldozer equipped with straight or U-type blades. These are probably the most economical pieces of equipment when material has to be moved a short distance. The economic haul or push distance for a bulldozer with a straight blade is from 17 to 90 meters depending on grade. The road design should attempt to keep the mass balance points within these constraints.The road design should consider the following points when bulldozers are to be used for road construction.
1. Roads should be full benched. Earth is side cast and then wasted rather than used to build up side cast fills.
2. Earth is moved down-grade with the aid of gravity, not up-grade.
3. Fill material is borrowed rather than pushed or hauled farther than the economic limit of the bulldozer.
4. Rock outcrops should be bypassed. Unless substantial rock blasting is specified requiring drilling and blasting equipment, solid rock faces should be avoided (This, however, is primarily a road locator's responsibility.)
Clearing and Grubbing of the Road Construction Area
Preparing the road right-of-way or construction area is referred to as clearing and grubbing. During the clearing phase, trees are felled. Grubbing refers to the clearing and removal of stumps and organic debris. Trees should be felled and cleared a minimum of 1 to 3 m from the top of the cut or toe of the fill (Figure 105). The logs can be decked outside the construction area (Figure 105, B to E) or skidded away.
Figure 105. Clearing limits in relation to road bed widths. Significant quantities of organic materials are removed between B and E. Stumps are removed between B and D. Stumps may be left between D and E. Organic debris and removed stumps are placed in windrows at F to serve as filter strips (see Section
Preparing the road right-of-way or construction area is referred to as clearing and grubbing. During the clearing phase, trees are felled. Grubbing refers to the clearing and removal of stumps and organic debris. Trees should be felled and cleared a minimum of 1 to 3 m from the top of the cut or toe of the fill (Figure 105). The logs can be decked outside the construction area (Figure 105, B to E) or skidded away.
Figure 105. Clearing limits in relation to road bed widths. Significant quantities of organic materials are removed between B and E. Stumps are removed between B and D. Stumps may be left between D and E. Organic debris and removed stumps are placed in windrows at F to serve as filter strips (see Section
Saturday, 8 October 2016
ROAD CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
ROAD CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES. (1)
Prior to the construction activity the design information has to be moved from the plan to the ground. This is accomplished by staking. Slope stakes are an effective way to insure compliance with the design standards and to keep soil disturbance to an absolute minimum. Various staking methods can be employed. (Dietz et al., 1984; Pearce, 1960) The method discussed here is but one example.
Stakes, marking various road design points, are typically obliterated during the clearing and grubbing phase. In order to relocate the stakes (centerline, slope stakes) it is helpful to establish reference points outside the clearing limits. Reference points should be set at least 3 to 5 meters behind the uphill clearing limits. On the average, reference points (or RP's) should be set at least every 70 to 100 meters. Typically, reference points are placed at points where the center line alignment can be easily re-established, such as points of curvature. Figure 102 shows the necessary stakes and stake notation needed by the equipment operator to construct a road.
Stakes are used by the equipment operator in locating where to begin cutting. If the selected starting point is too high, considerably more material has to be cut in order to construct the proper subgrade (Figure 103). For example, if the cut results in a 20 percent wider subgrade, approximately 50 percent more volume has to be excavated. (See Section 3.2.2.) If the cut is placed too low, an overstepped cut slope or extra side casting may result, both of which are undesirable.
Starting the cut at the proper point becomes more important as the side slope increases. As a rule, slope stakes should be set when sideslopes exceed 40 to 45 percent depending on the sensitivity of the area and the operator's experience.
The use of RP's (Reference Points) or slope stakes for proper excavation is shown in Figure 104. Here, the engineer stands on the preliminary centerline of the construction grade and sights for the RP. A slope reading of 30 percent and a slope distance of 5.53 m is recorded. Converting the slope distance of 5.53 m to a horizontal distance of 5.30 m and to a vertical distance of 1.59 m allows the engineer to determine how much the "present" or preliminary centerline has to be shifted to conform with the design centerline. The RP tag requires 6.50 m horizontal distance to centerline with a vertical drop of 4.80 m. From that information, it can be seen that an additional 1.56 m [4.80 - (1.59 + 1.65) = 1.56] has to be cut and the present location has to be shifted by 1.2 m (6.50 - 5.30 = 1.20). Height of instrument or eye-level is assumed to be 1.65 m.
Prior to the construction activity the design information has to be moved from the plan to the ground. This is accomplished by staking. Slope stakes are an effective way to insure compliance with the design standards and to keep soil disturbance to an absolute minimum. Various staking methods can be employed. (Dietz et al., 1984; Pearce, 1960) The method discussed here is but one example.
Stakes, marking various road design points, are typically obliterated during the clearing and grubbing phase. In order to relocate the stakes (centerline, slope stakes) it is helpful to establish reference points outside the clearing limits. Reference points should be set at least 3 to 5 meters behind the uphill clearing limits. On the average, reference points (or RP's) should be set at least every 70 to 100 meters. Typically, reference points are placed at points where the center line alignment can be easily re-established, such as points of curvature. Figure 102 shows the necessary stakes and stake notation needed by the equipment operator to construct a road.
Stakes are used by the equipment operator in locating where to begin cutting. If the selected starting point is too high, considerably more material has to be cut in order to construct the proper subgrade (Figure 103). For example, if the cut results in a 20 percent wider subgrade, approximately 50 percent more volume has to be excavated. (See Section 3.2.2.) If the cut is placed too low, an overstepped cut slope or extra side casting may result, both of which are undesirable.
Starting the cut at the proper point becomes more important as the side slope increases. As a rule, slope stakes should be set when sideslopes exceed 40 to 45 percent depending on the sensitivity of the area and the operator's experience.
The use of RP's (Reference Points) or slope stakes for proper excavation is shown in Figure 104. Here, the engineer stands on the preliminary centerline of the construction grade and sights for the RP. A slope reading of 30 percent and a slope distance of 5.53 m is recorded. Converting the slope distance of 5.53 m to a horizontal distance of 5.30 m and to a vertical distance of 1.59 m allows the engineer to determine how much the "present" or preliminary centerline has to be shifted to conform with the design centerline. The RP tag requires 6.50 m horizontal distance to centerline with a vertical drop of 4.80 m. From that information, it can be seen that an additional 1.56 m [4.80 - (1.59 + 1.65) = 1.56] has to be cut and the present location has to be shifted by 1.2 m (6.50 - 5.30 = 1.20). Height of instrument or eye-level is assumed to be 1.65 m.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)