The Enugu State government has described it as worrisome, the unfortunate situation where people have continued to erect structures on the waterways despite several warnings issued by the State Capital Territory Development Agency to discontinue any ongoing work on the waterways, saying it poses danger to the lives of the people.
The commissioner for special duties, Hon Emeka Ajogwu and his works and infrastructure counterpart, Engr Gerald Otiji re-echoed this on Friday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the state executive council meeting presided over by governor Peter Mbah, stating that the government will begin to take drastic actions against defaulters.
According to the commissioners, the council also approved that a draft bill for a law to review the Enugu State Emergency Management Agency law 2008 and to enact the Enugu State Emergency Management law, to provide for the establishment of Enugu State Emergency Management Agency and Local Emergency Management Agency, LEMA, be sent to the State House of Assembly for consideration and onward passage into law.
Hon Ajogwu and Engr Otiji said the exco also decried the attitude of some people whose ongoing structures have been marked to stop-work but they neglected the government’s order, noting that government will not relent in its commitment to protecting the lives of the people against both human induced and natural disasters.
The commissioners noted that very soon the Trans Ekulu bridge as well as Abakpa- T-junction- Opi-Nsukka roads will become dual carriageways, hence many structures around the river will be demolished, and called on the people building at the area to stop forthwith in order to avoid a waste of resources.
In the area of transportation infrastructure, the state commissioner for transport, Mr Obi Ozor said tip on transport infrastructure projects remains the strategy to be able to provide infrastructure that will enable the movement of people and goods across the state, as the governor is adopting some of the proven strategies in different parts of the world such as Dubai and Singapore with the aim of boosting transportation and logistics to become a key driver for purpose of increasing the state Gross Domestic Product, GDP, from 4.4 billion dollars to 30 billion dollars.
He said the phase 1 of the project starts with four terminals namely; the Enugu central station, a dual terminal that will be cited at Holy Ghost in order to curtail the challenges of traffic and inefficiency that people face within the area, as well as Garriki, Abakpa, and Nsukka central stations.
Mr Ozor said each of the terminals comes with bus stop and junction improvements as well as labels, which allow for free movement of the new BRT busses coming into Enugu, noting that the projects are eco-friendly and are powered by CNG and solar energy.
He said the terminals will also serve as economic hubs that will allow people to have a social life as each has cinemas and shopping centres among other social amenities that attract people for evening sit-outs.
On the logistics side, the transport commissioner said there will be Emene and 9th mile logistics hubs, as well as Obollo-Afor inland container depot, stating that the state was blessed as it is being positioned as the gateway from the North East to the North Central and South East to the South-South hence the government wants to leverage on that to make it become an economic heartbeat and logistics hub for the entire country.
