VOTE: DR IFEANYI PATRICK UBAH FOR GOVERNOR ANAMBRA STATE 2014 JOIN US AT: ifeanyiubahgovernor LET US JOIN HAND AND DEVELOP ANAMBRA STATE DEVELOPING PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE In order to develop the public infrastructure that our dear state needs, I will: Ensure reliable power supply by establishing an Independent Power Plant with sufficient electricity generation capacity to meet the needs of the state; Ensure that every part of the state is progressively linked to the national grid; Develop our Capital City and other urban areas in an environmentally sustainable manner; Revive the ability of the State Water Board to provide potable water to our people; Implement an Affordable Housing Programme and strengthen the State Housing Corporation; Implement a waste management and environmental beautification programme; Implement a comprehensive plan for the construction and maintenance of both urban and rural roads; Develop an intra-state transport system to aid easy access within cities, towns, and around the state; and Utilise the River Niger and its tributaries for water transportation to ease the movement of people and goods in and out of Anambra. ENERGY GENERATION AND POWER SUPPLY Successive administrations in Anambra have turned deaf ears to the anguish of the people. They sit tight in government quarters, use tax payers’ money to ensure uninterrupted diesel supply to their homes and offices, leaving the majority of our poor folks in misery and darkness. Reliable power supply is critical to the socio-economic well-being of any society. Our proposed industrialisation will be meaningless if industries in Anambra continue to depend on individual sources of power (generators). A lack of reliable power supply impacts the competitiveness of our local businesses and even threatens some with closure if they continue to sustain losses as a result of the high cost of production. We must, therefore, support these industries by ensuring that power supply, which is the major problem facing the productive industries, is solved. The palpable darkness that envelops the land in Anambra State must give way to light. The seamstress in Ekwulobia, the welder in Awka, the Baker in Aguleri, the barber in Omogho, the small business person in Ogidi, the Student in Uli, and the printer in Onitsha, all require a reliable supply of electricity. Their businesses, professional pursuits, indeed their livelihood, depend on it. Under my watch, the State will establish an Independent Power Plant on the bank of the River Niger and Omambala River with a sufficient electricity-generating capacity to meet the needs of the people. We will reach an agreement on the distribution and transmission licenced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to ensure that power produced by our IPP will be utilised by Anambrarians. Even though creating the power supply may not be initially profitable based on the regulatory tariff, the resulting economic benefits will justify the investment. Therefore, we must go ahead and implement this task. New and adequate transformers, electric poles, and distribution lines shall be dispatched to various parts of Anambra State. Every part of the state will, progressively, be linked to the National Grid to achieve sustainable development. OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT One of my priorities in government will be to maximise the development of oil and gas, which is my area of specialisation. We will prioritise the exploration of new hydrocarbon deposits, while maximising the exploitation of existing ones. We will also partner with Orient Petroleum in order to actualise its full production potential, stressing the importance of Anambra as an oil producing state. My administration will address the issues concerning the exploitation of oil with respect to our neighbouring states, and will also tackle youth unrest in the affected communities. DEVELOPMENT OF ANAMBRA STATE CAPITAL, AWKA Many abandoned projects blight the landscape of Awka Capital Territory. Private developers carry out unplanned developments, such that many parts of our State Capital are gradually being turned into an urban slum. There is no integrated development plan for the city. The master-plan developed by the out-going administration, at a huge cost, has been gathering dust and totally forgotten. A visit to our Capital City Centre, Aroma Junction, just a 5 minute drive from Government House, will show that the city cannot compete with or stand proudly amongst the capitals of other states. Our government will implement the Awka Capital Development law passed by the 7th Assembly of the Anambra State House of Assembly. We will ensure that a master-plan for the development of the state is implemented. Road construction in and around Awka Capital City will be aggressively developed and integrated with other parts of the state. All housing projects in Awka will be expedited and completed with social amenities. We will ensure that Awka Capital City and indeed all of our towns, are not only liveable, but are also developed in such a way as to ensure that the environment is sustainable. In meeting the present and future needs of our people, we will balance social, economic, and environmental objectives. In this regard we will tackle erosion in many parts of Awka and other parts of the state, and we will combat unplanned construction work. We will develop sound infrastructure for the disposal of liquid and solid waste. We will also implement the blueprint for the development of our state capital and the commercial towns of Onitsha and Nnewi. We will also build an International Conference and Trade Centre, which will attract businesses, conferees, and investors to the State from Nigeria and around the world. The monthly activities based in the Conference Centre will bring visitors to the State, who will in turn support local businesses, such as those in the hotel, food, and entertainment industries. WATER SUPPLY AND RETICULATION We will revive the ability of the State Water Board to provide potable water to our people. The dependence of our people on water that is often of poor quality will be aggressively tackled. It is worrisome that 22 years after the creation of Anambra State, the State has no reliable potable water supply. Most communities rely on bore-holes, streams, and other sources of untreated water. We will declare a State of Emergency on water supply in the state and also set up a panel of experts to ascertain the issues and concerns restraining the development of this sector, with the view to resuscitating the Anambra State Water Board Corporation. Specifically, the panel of experts will investigate the challenges and viability of the water programmes, including but not limited to, greater Onitsha, Awka, and Obizi water projects. It is important that urgent steps be taken to distribute water to households in Anambra. It is lamentable that scant attention has been paid to water distribution and that the salaries of the members of staff of the Anambra State Water Board have remained unpaid for long periods of time. If given the mandate, we shall look into and address this matter. HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT An Affordable Housing Scheme will be pursued by our government. We will encourage entrepreneurs and the businessmen and -women of our dear state who are building houses in Abuja, Lagos, Port-Harcourt, and other parts of the country to come back home and invest in our housing scheme. Our government will provide a conducive and friendly atmosphere to make this venture a huge success. Incentives to encourage developers will include allocation of lands and provision of sites and services on proposed development sites. Also, bureaucratic bottlenecks and hardships in getting Certificate of Occupancy in Anambra State will be minimized by our Administration. I promise investors that Anambra will be more viable than most of the states in Nigeria in terms of business opportunities and estate development. We will create an environment that will stop our people from relocating to our neighbouring states, as a result of insecurity and poor social infrastructure. We will encourage our people to come back home and invest, so that we will build our state to a greater height. Our people, especially civil servants, will be given loans to assist them in acquiring their own houses in any of the various housing estates the state will set up. We will ensure that salaried workers will have their own homes when they retire. The State Housing Corporation will be financially strengthened in order to have the capacity to drive the state mass housing programme. If I am elected as Governor of Anambra State, we will develop at least 2,000 units in low cost housing estates that shall be built in the three senatorial zones to serve the masses under the owner-occupier scheme. We will develop new schemes for medium and executive housing for owner-occupier purposes in each senatorial zone. We are also aware that these development ventures in housing offer direct infrastructural development, creation of jobs, employment, and wealth creation, which further stimulate economic growth and youth empowerment. WASTE MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL BEAUTIFICATION There has been a near collapse of our waste disposal system as refuse is littered over most parts of Anambra State, in areas such as Okpoko, Onitsha, opposite Meteorological Institutes Oba and Obosi-Nnewi-Okigwe Road (Ugwu akpati ozu), and the abandoned World Bank assisted incinerator project. All the serene sites and parks have been taken over by refuse. These environmental hazards could lead to an outbreak of heath epidemics with fatal consequences. The government has not done enough to sensitize the people and has failed to provide the necessary hardware and support required to achieve cleanliness. I will establish functional incinerators and operate them according to standards. A long-term approach is to partner with the private sector to develop waste recycling, which will enable waste to be removed proficiently. I will install bins on every street in our commercial cities. These bins will be carted away by dumpster trucks on a regular basis, and their contents emptied into incinerators. We will also commercialize waste management to improve efficiency. Recycling plants will be developed, which will use the recycled materials to produce paper, plastics, metal scraps, and fertilizer for our industrial and agricultural development. We will also make sure that our state is beautified. We will build boulevards from Amansea Junction to the Onitsha bridge-head. We will set up a Beautification Directorate that will work closely with the Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency (ANSEPA) to ensure that the state is beautified to make it an attractive tourist destination. We will set up recreational parks, beautify the major roads in the state, provide paved walk-ways and green and grass public leisure places, and will encourage residents to plant trees and periodically paint their houses. ROADS While I appreciate that successive governments in our State have done a considerable amount of work on the construction of access roads, a more comprehensive plan is needed. My administration will implement a plan for the construction and maintenance of both urban and rural roads. We will pay more attention to long-neglected community roads, using durable but cost-effective concrete and interlocking stones to pave them. This method will create community-based employment and youth empowerment, as well as deliver affordable road construction and easy maintenance. I am a proactive and pragmatic leader. I lead by example. I have already started implementing this in my community where I constructed roads using interlocking stones and I have also beautified the roads. Our government will construct the roads in the state with solid stone-based asphalt over-lays. Rural and urban roads must be constructed with drainages for proper flood discharge system. Agricultural communities will be linked with urban areas for effective transportation of their produce. We will create at least ten thousand (10,000) jobs through road construction, many of which will go to our teeming youths, helping to empower them economically. TRANSPORTATION It is surprising that the State does not have an effective city/town transport system. The major means for our citizenry to get around within any city is by the use of motorcycle commuter transport (okada) and very uncomfortable buses. It is critical that we develop an efficient intra-state transport system to aid easy access within cities, towns, and around the State. These will include introducing state-supported commuter buses and taxis which will transport our people at affordable rates. My government will recapitalize the Anambra State Transport Corporation (TRACAS) by restoring it to its glory. I will bring to bear the benefit of my entrepreneurial experience to make TRACAS one of the most formidable and viable transport outfits in the country. We will tackle obstructions and congestion on our roads as a result of indiscriminate stopping or parking in the middle of roads by drivers to pick or drop off passengers. We will develop parks and bus stops, properly located and well positioned, in order to divert passenger drop-offs away from the roads and highways. A light railway system will be constructed to connect cities in Anambra State. This rail system will also link the proposed Anambra Airport and the Awka Capital territory, Onitsha, Otuocha, Nnewi, Ihiala, and Aguata Orumba. This network will enable the easy transportation of goods while affording our people the cheapest form of movement. We will utilise the River Niger and its tributaries for water transportation to ease the movement of people and goods in and out of Anambra. This will attract Anambrarians to invest in marine transport, port, and harbour business in Anambra.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:20:40 +0000
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