Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Abia State Government says it is set to launch the 25-year Greater Aba Master Plan, “a comprehensive and long-term document that will guide the future development of Aba, the commercial hub of the state.”
Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, disclosed this in Umuahia, while briefing newsmen on the outcome of this week’s State Executive Council meeting.
He revealed that the State Government, through a collaborative effort between the Greater Aba Development Authority and UN-Habitat, has been working assiduously to deliver on the master plan, which he said would address the land-use infrastructure of Aba.
“The master plan is designed to rest on four pillars. The first pillar is road infrastructure, transportation, development and connectivity within Aba. The second pillar will deal with the economic development of Aba. It will deal with industrial zones, upgrades and formalization of commercial hubs within the city.
“The third pillar will deal with sustainable development and planned urban expansion of Aba. And the fourth pillar will deal with terrestrial, residence and flood management, which of course have been a perennial problem of that city,” Prince Kanu stated.
He said Abia State Social Health Insurance Scheme had so far gotten 91,227 enrollees, a figure he said “is quite encouraging.”
The Commissioner further said that the State Executive Council had granted approval for the Ministry of Health and the agency to extend their services to the informal sector.
He added that, in the coming weeks, they will roll out that second phase of the scheme.
Kanu announced that, a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facility, fully installed with relevant sophisticated equipment, has become operational in the state, particularly at the Abia State Diagonistic centre, Umuahia.
He said that the ICU would improve emergency care services and special types of surgeries that will be undertaken by the facility and noted that, there are no reported cases of Mpox, diphtheria, cholera or lassa fever in the state.
The Information Commissioner disclosed that the state would soon hold a groundbreaking ceremony for four housing projects.
The four housing estates which are in collaboration include: the Valley View Estate, the Mgbarakuma Estate, the Mbaisii Estate and the Obehe Housing Estate.
He explained that, under the Phase 2 of the housing projects, four more estates are being developed which are not yet ready for groundbreaking.
Prince Okey Kanu further informed that the first phase of the ABSU power restoration project has been completed, with power restored and being distributed to several areas of the campus.
He noted that the Phase 2 of the light project would be embarked upon once approval is granted in that regard and informed that ABSU hostel renovation works are progressing well, with electrical and plumbing installations completed, adding that, the building would soon be handed back to the university authorities.
The Information Commissioner, who recalled that there has been some security breaches in the Umunneochi area of the state, leading to some fatalities, said the state security agencies have been put on full alert as the state government would not leave any stone unturned in activating the entire security architecture of the state to address the issue of security breaches.
He said that, in line with the state government’s programme of commissioning of 200 primary healthcare centres (PHCs), under the ‘Project Ekwueme,’ in which 3 PHCs have been commissioned, the fourth PHC would be commissioned on Friday, this week at Ngwu, in Bende LGA.
Contributing, the Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Mr. Ikechukwu Monday, while emphasising on the restoration of power supply at ABSU, informed that the state government has started the process of transferring regulatory authority from the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission to the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority. He added that the government would soon flag off the CKC, Aba water scheme among others.
“We’ve concluded all the modalities for the flag off of the CKC water scheme rehabilitation. This is the water scheme that will provide potable water supply to some parts of Aba and the environs.
“So this is in line with His Excellency’s promise to Aba, to provide potable drinking water to our people.
“In terms of power, as an update, we started the process of transferring regulatory authority from the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission to the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority.
“So that process has started and it takes about 6 months to get that process going. Once that process is completed, that means we will be able to regulate all the electricity related components within the state, ranging from distribution to generation, transmission, even up to metering,” Monday stated.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma; and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ukoha Njoku Ukoha, were present at the briefing.
