Enugu state Government has approved the completion of the International Conference Centre,ICC, abandoned for over sixteen years,The state Government has also cleared the air on the approval of N170 billion bank facility, saying the money is not loan but Bank guarantee.
Commissioner for Information in the state, Aka Eze Aka , made this known while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the
.State Executive Councill meeting held ,Friday at the Government House .
Throwing more light on the ICC project approval, the state commissioner for tourism, Mrs Madueke, said the Centre when completed, will address the dire need for conferencing in Enugu.
She said the Centre has 3000 seater auditorium, a dome ,1000 Secondary event area, among others.
The commissioner said the ICC, when completed ,will boost economic activites in the state , it will also create employment.
L-R Aka, Nnamai,otiji
On works, the Commissioner for works, Engr. Gerald Otiji said the state Governor, Dr Peter Mbah flagged off 71 Urban road on Thursday and the importance of the road cannot be over emphasised.
The Owo- Amankanu-Ubah-Ikem road, he said, shortens the distance from Enugu to the north.
Fielding questions from newsmen on the collasped new Artisan bridge., Otiji said , the bridge belongs to federal government and it has not been handed over to the state. He disclosed that the intergrity test had been conducted and when he gets the result, they will know the next step , if it will be fortified or not.
The commissioner lamented that some roads in Enugu had started failing because of the heavy trucks that plied them as a result of the diversion of vehicles ,following the collasped new Artisan bridge. He appealed to the residents of Enugu and other road users to be patient as work wil soon start there .
On sports development’, the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Dr. Lyold Ekweremadu ,said that they sealed a business deal between Enugu Rangers International club and Afrivest. The N50million deal is for the sponsorship of the 2023/2024 national league competition. He thanked the state government for the support given to Enugu Rangers. Dr Ekweremadu appealed for more sponsorships..
On Development of other sporting events and revival of school sports, Ekweremadu said , plans were on to revive schools sports .”Discussions with relevant bodies had been held and soon, sporting activities will start in the schools”, he said.
Ekweremadu
Speaking on provision of portable water, Commissioner for Water Resources , Prof Felix Nnamani, thanked Governor Mbah for keeping to his promise of providing water for the people of the state. Nnamani said that most areas which had pipes have water , he however noted that there is no water in Trans- Ekulu because of the road construction going on in the area. He announced that the issue of independent power plant has been taken care of by the executives and there is power plant at Oji-River , presently.
The Commission disclosed that the volume of water pumped is much and will serve people who already have pipes.
“We do have confidence that we are on track because of the volume of water given. We have water pumped up .it is important to us that as we are moving on the construction is going on If you are disconnected in the morning that does not mean you will not have water. Once the water project is completed, everybody will have water”, Nnamani assured.
The Commissioner for Information, Aka Eze Aka spoke on the palliatives. He said the palliatives received needed to be attended to . “The content, the packaging were not satisfying . He said such exercise should be handled by the Governors because States were investing their money ..
On the N170 billion bank facility approve, Aka said ,” This bank guarantee is not loan. I t is an amount that they have asked the bank to keep aside so that investors will see, if Enugu state should default these banks will see that investors do not loose out .The N170billion may not even be touched by the state government.
Author: Maureen Ikpeama