In its move to charge the aesthetics of Umuahia, the Abia State capital and make it a smart city, Abia State Government has announced the commencement of urban renewal and beautification.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey! Kanu who disclosed this while briefing the press after this week ‘s State Executive Council meeting named one of the major actions to be taken to be the relocation of illegal traders from Isigate to Okwulaga -Afara, Umuahia.
According to him the acquisition of the land for the new market has been completed with compensation duly paid to the land owners, adding that the building of a perimeter fencing round the market is ongoing.
The Commissioner noted that part of the initiatives include the construction of bus shelters within Umuahia among others.
“Please, be informed that land for the new market has been completed and compensation duly paid to the land owners . At this point, the building of a perimeter fencing round the market is ongoing.
“Like I said earlier, the relocation is geared towards decongesting Isigate and making way for the new bus terminal and other transport and beautification projects around that part of the capital city,” Prince Kanu stated.
Prince Kanu pointed out that the state government is very intentional and determined to implement the Smart City project hence, there’s a move to remove the projections in front of buildings. He said that the state government , through the Umuahia Capital Development Authority ( UCDA) has standardized the projections across the state.
He made it clear that henceforth, Landlords will be allowed to project their buildings with the specification about 1.5 meters, stressing that the idea is to standardize the design for the projections across the length and breadth of the state particularly in Umuahia, Aba and Ohafia.
The Information Commissioner while disclosing that there are 28 ongoing road construction projects across the state with the contractors on all the sites working very hard to beat the deadline that has been set for them, further revealed that there are about 44 direct labour work road ongoing projects with a few completed.
Prince Kanu said that the state government is intentional about addressing the housing issues in and around the state capital and disclosed that there are about four housing projects that would take off soon; informing that two of the proposed projects are around Umuahia , one in Aba while the other is located in Ukwa West respectively.
He declared that discussions are ongoing with developers and the affected areas are Valley View in Umuahia, Mbaisii, Mgbarakuma and Obehie in Ukwa West LGA.
Contributing, the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Mr. Chaka Chukwumereije said that a lot would be happening in the housing sector in the state this year, disclosing that the state government is embarking on housing project that is called the New Umuahia project .
According to him, the new Umuahia is located between Umuahia Tower and Ntigha in Isiala Ngwa North LGA and it would cover about an area of 2,000 hectares, affecting about 19 communities at that corridor.
