The Enugu State Government has approved a new round of infrastructure projects spanning roads, tourism, housing and administrative facilities across the state, in a move officials say supports the administration’s goal of growing the state economy from four billion dollars to thirty billion dollars within eight years.
The approvals came during a weekend meeting of the State Executive Council. Briefing reporters afterward, Commissioner for Information and Communication Malachy Agbo, Commissioner for Culture and Tourism Ugochi Madueke and Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure Ben Osy Okoh outlined the scope of the new projects.
Okoh said the council approved the completion and upgrade of Wings C and D of the Enugu State Secretariat Complex in the Government Reserved Area, along with rehabilitation of Wings A and B, which were completed and commissioned in 2015 but have since developed problems. He said the remaining wings have stayed unfinished and fallen into disrepair, and that the plan now is a full remodeling of the complex with modern facilities that also corrects issues found in the earlier wings.
Following completion of a 6.5 kilometer dual carriageway for the first phase of the New Enugu City development, the government also approved construction of 1,000 fully detached terrace housing units with four and five bedroom configurations, in addition to 18,000 mass housing units planned for the Gateway Estate to further address the state’s housing shortage. Okoh described the housing plan as comprehensive, including roads, water and electricity infrastructure.
He said the council also approved a 10.5 kilometer road project linking Igogoro, Amachara, Ikpamodo, Okpo and Amaada, along with work to address flooding points on the major Nsukka road and construction of five connecting streets in response to recent flooding in the area, including repair of damaged drainage systems. He added that the council approved procurement of more than 30 pieces of light equipment for the Ministry of Works to support direct labour and maintenance projects, which he said would reduce future intervention costs.
Commissioner Madueke announced approval for three tourism developments: the Ovu Lake Golf Resort in Nkanu East Local Government Area, tourism projects in Akwuke and Attakwu in Enugu South and Nkanu West, and a cable car project linking Okpatu and Awhum.
She said the golf resort will include an eighteen hole championship course, a hotel with more than 100 rooms, a 600 seat conference center, boat facilities, landscaped gardens, sports courts and other recreational amenities. She described the Attakwu site as home to untouched forest and a natural lake that will be developed into an ecotourism destination with an animal sanctuary, while the Akwuke project will become a leisure destination featuring a sand beach, theme park, water park and boardwalk.
On the cable car project, Madueke said it would run about 5.32 kilometers from Okpatu Hill, home to the Cross of Hope monument, to the Awhum Waterfall, with three stations including an intermediate stop at Awhum Monastery and a terminal station offering additional attractions. She said the system would let visitors reach the waterfall safely and comfortably without climbing the hills on foot.
