The Bayelsa State Physical Planning and Development Board has intensified the demolition of illegal structures and building extensions encroaching on government rights-of-way across Yenagoa, the state capital.
The exercise was carried out on Thursday along the Etegwe axis of the Mbiama-Yenagoa Road, Bay-Bridge Road and INEC Road in Kpansia, where structures identified by the board as obstructing designated rights of way were pulled down.
The exercise is part of the state government’s efforts to sanitise the capital city and enforce compliance with physical planning regulations.
The Chairman of the board, Kuroakegha Dorgu, said the demolition was in line with the urban renewal and physical development agenda of the Governor Douye Diri administration.
Dorgu said the board was committed to ensuring that physical development in the state conformed to approved planning standards, government layouts and designated rights of way.
He said, “The Physical Planning and Development Board, as the agency saddled with the responsibility of regulating physical development and promoting orderly urban planning in the state, is demonstrating renewed commitment to ensuring that development activities conform with approved planning standards and established government layouts and rights of way.”
The chairman said the exercise was not targeted merely at removing structures, but was part of a broader effort to improve accessibility, safety and the appearance of Yenagoa.
He stated, “The ongoing intervention is not merely about the removal of illegal structures; it is part of a broader vision to build a cleaner, safer, more accessible and better-planned Yenagoa.”
Dorgu assured residents that the board would sustain enforcement and sensitisation to protect public spaces and promote orderly development across the metropolis.
He urged property owners, developers, traders and residents to comply with approved physical planning regulations and desist from erecting structures or carrying out developments on government rights of way and other designated public spaces.
He said the state government remained committed to creating an enabling environment for orderly physical development, adding that the board would continue to play its statutory role in achieving a more organised and aesthetically improved state capital.