Enugu Elders Flay Contractors

The Enugu State Council of Elders has expressed displeasure over the shoddy jobs being done  by contractors handling rehabilitation of the Enugu-Onitsha and Enugu-Port Harcourt express roads.  

  State Commissioner for Information,  Mr. Chuks Ugwoke,  made this known Wednesday   while briefing newsmen  at the end of the meeting of the council at the Government House, Enugu.

  According to him,  the Council also appealed  to  the Federal Government to call the contractors handling the roads to order, to ensure that the rehabilitated roads are durable.

  The council, however,  commended Governor Sullivan Chime  of Enugu state, for the giant strides made by his administration and urged him not to relent in delivering democracy dividends to the people.

   The government spokesman said that earlier, Governor Chime had explained to the council members the  progress made  so far by his administration since the council’s last meeting in December 2009.

  Governor Chime, he said, also  informed the council of the agricultural initiative of his administration called the Songhai Enugu Initiative on which 172 graduates are being trained in commercial agriculture at the Republic of Benin.  

He told the elderstatesmen that 65 out of these trainees would be back on May 7, this year and that sites where they would practice have been identified in various local government areas of the state.

 The governor, he further said,  informed the council that the state has embarked on the establishment of a 200-bed specialist hospital in Enugu in conjunction with a foreign partner, Valore Projects Limited, adding that  it  would cost N7,109 billion on a 70:30 ratio by the state government and the private partner.

Continuing, the state chief executive also told the Council that the work on the upgraded Akanu Ibiam Airport to international status is in progress and that additional land has been added for the expansion of the runway as requested by the contractor handling the project.  

Governor Chime equally intimated them of the relocation of international trade fair complex to its permanent site, adding that work on internal road network and parameter fencing at the new site have been completed.

  He  disclosed that work on roads construction in the state is in progress, pointing out that  work on the 44-kilometer Nkwo Nike, Ugwogo Nike, Ekwegbe, Opi junction road is now being handled by the Arab Contractors.  

He said that the Akpasha, Agbogugu, Ihe-Owelli, Nome, Awgu road is on-going while work on the Eke, Ebe, Akpakwume, Nze road is also in progress.  

On urban roads, the governor disclosed that dualization of the Agbani Road will be completed this year, that of Agbani Road commenced soon while Nkpokiti, UNEC, Edozie, Kenyata, Chime Avenue roads have been completed. 

The governor informed the Council that the state government has procured additional 300 taxi cabs and that they have been distributed to the beneficiaries to ease transportation and provide jobs to the unemployed in the state.