The New Enugu City Management Agency bill on Thursday scaled through the second reading in the state House of Assembly.
The bill, if passed, is designed to decongest the Enugu metropolis.Leading a debate on the bill, the member representing Ezeagu Constituency, Mr Chima Obieze, said the idea of creating a new Enugu city was commendable because it would help to depopulate the Enugu urban.
Obieze expressed the hope that the new city would afford civil servants and other workers in the state to buy land and build houses for themselves.
The lawmaker urged the state government to make adequate provisions for the poor and middle class in the new city, and urged the government to avoid the temptation of building the city for rich individuals. He enjoined Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu state to consider building an estate that would be affordable by the residents of the state, stressing that the poor people in the state deserve to live in a conducive houses.While contributing, Mr Lebechi Eze, representing Isi-uzo Constituency, said the agency would help in the management of the new city, and commended Gov. Mbah for his move to develop other parts of the state.
Eze maintained that the management agency would assist the government to plan the city, to avoid mistakes being experienced currently in the metropolis, urging the agency to make provision for recreational centres in the new city.
In his submission, the Minority Leader of the House, Mr Iloabuchi Aniagu, revealed that the state government plans to make the new city strictly a residential area, and also equip the city with facilities to make the place conducive for its residents. He warned the agency not to repeat the mistake of turning the new Enugu city to a commercial area, which the Independence Layout, the New Haven and the Government Reservation Area (GRA), have been turned into. According to him, turning the new city to commercial area would defeat the purpose of creating the city.
Aniagu pointed out that the bill seeks to establish a new management agency that would design a master plan for the new city, stressing that the new management would manage and control the development of the city.In the same vein, the Speaker of the House, Chief Uche Ugwu, thereafter directed the committees on Lands, ECTDA, Judiciary and Housing to conduct a public hearing on the bill and submit their report on Tuesday, 30 Jan., 2024. (NAN)
