Abia State Government, on Monday, announced the extension of the planned enforcement on the restriction of tricycles and motorcycle operations in Aba and Umuahia from the 1st day of July to the 1st of August 2024 based on the yearnings of the citizens.
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu, disclosed this during a press briefing on the outcome of this week’s Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti.
According to him, “As a listening government and in response to the pleas and yearnings of Abians, which we got through various feedback channels, the state government decided to extend the enforcement of that policy by one month to enable all stakeholders to get more prepared for the effective implementation and enforcement of the policy”, stating that other arrangements including the enumeration and registration of all commercial vehicles, tricycles and motorcycles commenced 1st July 2024 as part of the preparatory steps to the full take-off of the policy.
Prince Okey Kanu said as a result, therefore, the state government has concluded plans to introduce CNG-powered buses in the state “to sustain the gains made by the government with regards to extending business hours in the state, particularly in Aba and Umuahia, the state government will embark on a number of initiatives with a view to filling whatever gaps may be created by the introduction of restrictions.
“The arrangement will be such that Keke and Okada operators will form cooperatives or clusters to access these buses and the bottom line is to ensure that commuters still move around, especially during this period of restriction,” Prince Kanu stated.
The Commissioner further disclosed that a total of 36,875 academic certificates have been uploaded in the ongoing certificate upload exercise among the public and civil servants in the state as directed by the government.
He added that a total of 25,458 career documents have equally been uploaded while 7,582 have been moved to various institutions for verification, stating that a good number of workers have uploaded their credentials, and encouraged those yet to comply to do so in their interest.
On his part, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma, while responding to questions by journalists about the mess noticed around the Cooperative and Isigate axis of Umuahia, informed that the “Government is intentional about clearing the mess there as well as relocate the people there and those that are at Isigate.
“We are a government of due process. The government has concluded plans to relocate all those at Isigate. But if we asked them to leave the place without an alternative, we would have caused a lot of economic challenges for people there. A very strategic place has been identified and government is about to acquire it. So, it is the same thing that we are going to do in Cooperatives,” Mr. Ekeoma said.
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