The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the outcome of this week’s State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.
He regretted that street trading in the state has become a menace and is adversely impacting on newly constructed roads.
He said, “With all the efforts the government has made, this menace (street trading) keeps rearing its ugly head, particularly in Aba.
“Incidentally, most of the new roads that the government has constructed, people use them to trade and this will not augur well for these new roads.
“There have been a lot of interface between government officials and the market authorities and in other instances, the culprits as it were, everything has been done but to no avail.
“Despite the fact that this government puts human face in its activities, by the New Year, government will go all out to enforce the law.”
Kanu reassured stakeholders of the government’s determination to ensure that one-carriage way Ossah-Okpara Square Road would be completed and used this Yuletide.
He also said that the same effort is being put in place for the Aba-Port-Harcourt Expressway while the government is sustaining its various road rehabilitations across the state due to how central road infracstructure is to the Otti-led administration.
He also disclosed that so far, 27 roads have been fixed and some of them, including Jubilee Road and Aba, would soon be inaugurated.
The commissioner maintained that Otti is committed to making good his promise of defraying all arrears of pensions owed pensioners by previous administration.
“As a responsive and responsible government, this administration will keep to its promise. The governor, Dr. Alex Otti, will keep to his promises of paying off all the outstanding pension arrears. In the coming days, we will be able to avail you information in that regard,” he said.
Contributing, the state Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, said, “We are also collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Power to see how we can boost power supply in Abia State.”
He revealed that “there is a project, which is 132 KVA line that is supposed to run from Umuahia to Mbalano, from Mbalano to Okigwe. This project was awarded in 2001, and it was abandoned. So, this project, when executed, would have helped to improve the power supply within that axis.”
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