The Nasarawa State Government is set to introduce new guidelines to regulate the building of houses, especially in urban centres in the state.

The guidelines which were contained in a booklet soon to be released to the public, spelt out development control standards, rules and regulations approved by the state government for the control of urban development.

This is a follow-up to the contract recently awarded for the development of a master plan for Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State, and five other urban areas in the state by the government.

Addressing newsmen in his office, the managing director of the newly constituted Nasarawa State Urban Development Board (NUDB), the body responsible for the control and development of the urban areas, Alhaji Ja’afaru Ango, said that the board was poised to work diligently to improve the quality of both the environment and life of the people in urban centres of the state.

According to him, some of the measures taken by the board included the immediate stoppage of illegal construction by both public and private developers, proper street naming and house numbering to ease identification.

Alhaji Ango added that other measures adopted by his board to develop the urban centres were the illegal removal of illegal structures, particularly those that obstructed roads and other facilities, provision of more parking places for vehicles to reduce indiscriminate parking, loading and off-loading of goods and passengers along major roads

He said street cleaners and environmental officials would be introduced particularly in the state capital, to ensure cleaner environment.

Alhaji Ango said with the powers of the new board to employ requisite staff, procure equipment and source funds as a scheduled agency of government, the stage was set for the controlled development of the urban centres.