In a determined effort to intensify the campaign to clean up Enugu metropolis and other cities in the state, the state government yesterday, approved immediate engagement of 1,000 youth volunteers under “Enugu Clean Team Initiative”.
The initiative, which is one of the many significant development of the administration of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to ensure that Enugu continues to maintain its enviable status as the capital of the eastern region and a major centre of tourism, will also engage the services of waste management company as well as launch an operation to clear Enugu roadsides of abandoned vehicles and illegal structures.
The state government also approved the recruitment of 175 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teachers for 35 science and technical schools across the state, in furtherance of the governor’s commitment to the promotion of education in the state.
Equally approved was the contract for the construction of five roads in urban and rural areas, mainly in Abakpa Nike, Enugu, in keeping with the governor’s promise to rehabilitate the roads during the dry season.
The roads include: Rehabilitations of Edward Nnaji street –Ogwuagor road; Amaetiti street- Ugboye Abakpa-Nike road; Abakpa-Nike market road in Enugu East LGA; construction of Ituku road, Awgu LGA; and reconstruction of Ugbodogwu/ Sani Abacha street, Phase VI, Trans-Ekulu, Enugu.
The approvals were part of the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting held yesterday at the Government House, Enugu, which was presided over by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
Briefing newsmen at the end of the council meeting, the Commissioner for Information, Ogbuagu Anikwe, stated that the council voted to engage youths between the ages of 18 and 35 who are willing to volunteer for the task of keeping Enugu cities clean.
The commissioner added that the governor announced that the youth volunteers will be known as the Enugu Clean Team (ECT) and will be paid a generous monthly allowance to ensure that they are dedicated to the task.
In the second phase of Clean Coal City Initiative, the Council approved to allow a subcommittee headed by Chief of Staff, Dr. Festus Uzor, to enter a final discussion with a consortium that has proposed to manage wastes as well as convert them to renewable energy.
The consortium has proposed a long-term concession to collect hazardous and non-hazardous wastes from industries, commercial organizations, health and other institutions, and residential buildings.
According to Anikwe, “If the talks succeed, the Consortium will manage an engineered landfill site and a hazardous waste incinerator – both with waste-to-energy system – in addition to transfer stations and a waste to energy plant”.
In a third initiative to achieve the Cleaner Coal City Initiative, the Information Commissioner, disclosed that council also mandated the Ministry of State Capital Territory to begin the process of removing vehicles that constitute obstructions on the road, including those that broke down and were abandoned. He revealed that the council appealed to all those who are involved in the acts of defacing the city through various means to desist from such activities, to avoid their property being confiscated.
On the recruitment of STEM teachers, Hon. Anikwe, explained that the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze, had reported that there is an acute shortage of technical, science, and vocational education teachers in the schools following retirements that began in 2015, adding that the Council approved that 175 teachers be recruited at the average of five teachers per school, to cushion the effect of retirements of competent tutorial staff.
It also approved the recruitment of 105 non-tutorial staff at the average of 3 per school made up of bursars, security men and clerical officers.
In approving the proposal, the Council noted that there is need to encourage science, technical and vocational education as a viable option for employment generation and wealth creation.
The council further approved to construct, within the next two months, five standard fire stations to strengthen capacity to manage fire-fighting and rescue operations across the state.
Hon. Anikwe, pointed out that state currently has three fire service stations with none located in the Enugu North Senatorial Zone. The five approved stations will be distributed to Enugu North (2), Enugu West (2) and Enugu East (1).
“The State Executive Council voted unanimously to quickly construct fire stations at Ogrute (Igboeze North LGA), Orba (Udenu LGA), Ninth-Mile Corner (Udi LGA), Oji (Oji River LGA), and Four-Corners (Nkanu West LGA).
“To ensure that the project is completed within the scheduled two months, the State Ministry of Works was asked to construct the fire stations through direct labour at an estimated cost of N38.7m per station”.
