The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is set to conduct the groundbreaking for the development of its Diaspora Smart City Project in Kabusu settlement, Maitama District, Abuja, the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Mr. Umar El-Yakub, has said.
The minister, who spoke during an inspection tour of the project site, said the estate upon completion would close up the housing gap in the country.
The Managing Director of FHA, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa, in the company of his management team, led the minister to the 700 hectares of land proposed for the smart city.
The Diaspora Smart City is going to be located in Kabusu Village after Mpape in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
The minister said the Federal Government would ensure that the project commenced soon since its planning had been in the works for many years.
“This is a huge development which will be one of its kind with over 700 hectares of land and it is a mixed development. This is an iconic development in our model and diaspora city where Nigerians living abroad will invest and own property back home and the entire community is a city of its own.
“It will be built based on PPP as the agency does not get appropriation from the Federation Account, but we will be providing direct infrastructural amenities. So, by the time this project will start, one can only imagine the number of jobs it will create for the community. So, a lot of employment will be generated,” El-Yakub said.
According to him, the employment generation had already started and would be sustained by the provision of services when the city was being constructed.
Earlier, Ashafa said the land was free of all litigations and all compensations had been paid, adding that all the paper works about the land had been done in collaboration with the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).
“The land is blessed with so many natural phenomena, with hills surrounding it with natural lakes that when it is completed, it can compete with any other smart city,” he said.
Speaking on the project, the General Manager, of Planning and Survey, FHA, Mr. Eyong Ibor, said the city would comprise eight house types.
Ibor further said the city would be built in line with the FCDA’s concept of integration of existing settlements into the various sites.
