NAN-HE-21
Mapping
Lagos, March 15, 2017 (NAN) Mr Afolabi Solesi, a former Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigeria Institution of Surveyors (NIS) has called for a review of the country’s mapping plan.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that the mapping would accommodate new developments in the county.
He said there was need for periodic mapping of the country to ensure that the country was up to date with information, data and developmental issues.
The former NIS chief stressed that mapping of the country had been long overdue and that the mapping plan of any country was supposed to be reviewed every five or 10 years.
He noted that experts in the U.S. had recommended that every country should keep aside two-and-half per cent of its annual budget for mapping.
Solesi expressed his regrets that mapping had not been carried out in Nigeria for many years.
According to him, it is the mapping plan that indicates where and how structural developments should take place in a country.
“Normally, a mapping plan is supposed to reveal the area where schools, churches, markets, residential homes or roads are to be situated.
“But due to a lack of an up to date mapping plan of the country, most of the developments and housing structures are carried out without reference to contents of the mapping plan.
”That is why people build houses randomly such that schools, churches and residential homes are most times built in market or noisy areas.”
Solesi argued that periodic mapping was necessary because it would reveal and accommodate developments that had occurred in the past and make provisions for new ones.
He said that mapping could serve as a guide for government because it usually revealed the land mass of the country and areas occupied by people, forest and water, among others.
The surveyor said that mapping data would also help government to know the amount of revenue generated from every area and how to plan for the welfare of citizens. (NAN)
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Edited by Emmanuel Mogbede/Silas Nwoha