Vandals destroy newly installed solar panels in FCT

Vandals have removed some of the newly installed solar panels in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West APC), gave the hint and bemoaned the activities of vandals in the city.

He stated this in Abuja at weekend  during an inspection of some of the ongoing projects within the city as part of the committee’s oversight function.

He said that efforts must be made to secure and maintain all facilities, including traffic lights, rail tracks, manholes, and power installations among others.

Adeyemi asked Nigerians to protect public facilities put in place for their benefits, and the Federal Capital Territory Administration to include security and maintenance components into budget proposals for proposed projects.

Other projects inspected are ongoing rehabilitation work at the National Assembly, operations control centre of the Abuja Mass Rail Transit System, the Gosa dump site and landfill, and the Wupa sewage treatment plant, as well as the facilities and equipment of the Department of Development Control.

Adeyemi hailed the FCTA Minister, Malam Musa Bello, for his commitment to the execution of priority projects in the Territory.

Responding to the issue of the security of critical infrastructure, the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority, Shehu Ahmed, said the FCT Security Committee had mandated the FCT Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps to ensure the security of such facilities across the FCT.

FCTA Director, Department of Facility Maintenance, Omoniyi Olaloye, said the solar street lighting initiative became imperative due to inadequate power supply from the national grid.

Olaloye revealed that over 4,000 units of solar powered street lights had been installed so far across the city, promising that more installations would be made.