Otti charges UN Habitat to hasten design of Aba Master Plan
By Jeffrey Agbo
Abia State Governor Alex Otti has charged the UN Habitat to fastrack the delivery of Aba Master Plan as well as extend their work to the capital, Umuahia, in order to accelerate the pace of work in the redevelopment of the cities.
Otti gave the charge when he received the UN Habitat, West Africa Portfolio Manager, Matthias Spaliviero, who visited Tuesday to brief him on the extent of work done by the agency in redesigning the Master Plan for Aba.
The governor, who said his administration was committed to transforming Umuahia to give it a status befitting of a capital city, announced that government had awarded contract for the construction of an ultra modern bus terminal in Umuahia to enhance the aesthetics of the city and ensure a level of sanity in the transport sector. He added that a similar project would be replicated in Aba.
“We are advancing in our quest to develop Aba and address the environmental challenges in the city. While you are working in Aba, extend your work to Umuahia to add value to what we are doing because it is the capital city. We want to transform that city.
“We have given approval for the establishment of a terminal, where all types of transportation empties into. We also have deployed that to two locations in Aba.
“You can see that we’re already moving. So, the earlier you now fit what we’re doing into the Master Plan, the better. Otherwise you would just find out that in the next two, three, four months, you may need to go back to what you think you had finished as your Master Plan will not be consistent with the development on the ground, and we don’t want that to happen,” Otti admonished the UN agency.
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He called on the organisation to look at the drainage systems in both Aba and Umuahia and come up with designs on how to best address the issue of flooding in the cities.
Earlier, Spaliviero, who said he was in the state for a support mission, explained that the UN habitat intends to show full commitment to the state through technical assistance.
Spaliviero said there was need for sustainable urban renewal through engagement with the people, especially in Aba, regretting that Aba people had poor sanitary culture and do not take care of the infrastructure provided by the government.
“Our mandate is to promote transformative change in urban cities and settlements. We want to show our full commitment to Abia state. We do have a contractual agreement with Abia State. This is our strategic plan, so the overall objective is sustainable urbanisation as a driver of development and peace to improve living conditions for all,” Spaliviero stated.
The General Manager, Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA), Arc Uche Ukeje, expressed regret that the UN Habitat was not moving as fast as expected by the state in the execution of the project, which the state had paid for in full.
He, consequently, called for the pace of work to be accelerated as the government was not willing to freeze development with regard infrastructure delivery while waiting for the agency to complete the Master Plan that had been in the works for about three years.