Recall that the proposed legislation sponsored by Kalu was passed by the Senate after considering and adopting its clauses at the Committee of the Whole, chaired by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Recall also that the House of Representatives on December 21, 2023, at its Committee of the Whole chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Kalu, unanimously passed the Bill for Third Reading and subsequently sent it to the Senate for concurrence.
Reacting to the development in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Press Affairs, Udora Orizu, Kalu commended the Senate, noting that the Bill when passed into law and eventually assented to by President Bola Tinubu, will help to rebuild the South East region from the damage of the civil war.
This is just as he noted that the passage of the bill is coming at a time when South East lawmakers are championing the Peace in South East Project, a non-political movement using a non-kinetic approach to resolving the problems in the region.
Kalu said, “I’m grateful to my colleagues in the Senate led by the President, Senator Godswill Akpabio for passing through 3rd reading of the bill seeking the establishment of the South East Development Commission which I sponsored. I am equally grateful to my colleagues in the House who supported and passed the bill recently.
“The commission is very important because when established, it will help in the rebuilding of the post-war reconstruction that has not been attended to for over fifty years.
“The Commission shall conceive, plan and implement, by the set rules and regulations, projects and programmes for the sustainable development of the South East States in the field of transportation including roads, health, education, employment, agriculture, industrialisation, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity, and telecommunications; cause the South East States to be surveyed to ascertain measures which are necessary to promote its physical and socio-economic development.
“Implement all the measures approved for the development of the South East States by the Federal Government and the member States of the Commission; identify factors inhibiting the development of the South East States and assist the member States in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure sound and efficient management of the resources of the South East States;
“Assess and report on any project being funded or carried out in the South East States by mineral extracting and mining companies, oil and gas producing companies, and any other company including non-governmental organisations, and ensure that funds released for such projects are properly utilised.
“It shall further tackle ecological and environmental problems that arise from the extraction and mining of solid mineral, exploration of oil mineral in the South East States and advise the Federal Government and the member States on the prevention and control of oil spillages, gas flaring and environmental pollution; liaise with the various solid mineral extraction and mining companies and oil and gas prospecting and producing companies on all matters of pollution prevention and control; and execute such other works and perform such other functions which in the opinion of the Commission are required for the sustainable development of the South East States and its peoples,” the statement further read.
