Members of the newly inaugurated committee on the operations and management of parks in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been charged to come up with  recommendations that would improve the standard of facilities in the FCT in line with international best practices.

The FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, made the plea while inaugurating the committee to be headed by the Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Otunba Runsewe, in his office recently.

The minister bemoaned the present situation where parks and recreational facilities in the FCT have become a nightmare to users instead of places for relaxation which they were originally meant for.

He went further to extol the qualities of the NTDC Boss stating that based on his commitment to national service, wealth of experience, pedigree and antecedents  in the tourism industry, he was  the best man to head the committee.

Senator Bala Mohammed listed the terms of reference of the committee to include: determining  the number, location, allottees and purpose for which all Parks were leased out from January 2004 till dates; to identify approving authority for the parks leased out;

The committee is also to study the existing park Rules and Regulations of 2005 and determine level of compliance by all the park operators; to determine level of compliance of all the parks with basic rules and regulations as it relates to sustainable greening and cleaning of Parks; make any other recommendation that will reposition Parks and Recreation, in accordance with global best practice.

On his part, Otunba Runsewe thanked the Minister for finding him worthy of the responsibility and promised not to disappoint him while reminding him of the recently completed tourism village in South Africa built by the NTDC.

The NTDC helmsman went further to reveal that “there are 26 parks in South Africa which create 200 jobs in that country”; He indicated his interest in replicating the feat in Nigeria which according to him will go a long way in reducing crime drastically and at the same time, reduce  the unemployment situation in the country.