Gov Mbah Inaugurates State-owned Mega Asphalt Plant

* Inaugurates minimum wage execution committee with one-month timeframe

In furtherance of his campaign promise to construct 10,000 roads in eight years, governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has commissioned a mega asphalt production plant built by his administration.
Inaugurating the plant in Enugu yesterday, Governor Mbah also explained that the state would in addition produce the inputs for asphalt production, noting these moves would drastically reduce the cost of road construction for the state.

His words: “This is an event that brings us closer to our dream of bidding our collapsed, unpaved roads goodbye. This special and state-of-the-art asphalt production plant is designed to produce 160 tons of asphalt per hour.”
On another governance front, Governor Mbah has inaugurated the committee for implementation of the New National Minimum Wage for Civil and Public Servants in Enugu State, giving the committee a maximum of one month to submit its report.

The committee inaugurated Thursday at the Government House, Enugu, had the Head of Service, Kenneth Ugwu, as chairman; representative of the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Sandra George, as Secretary and the Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development, Dr. Nathaniel Uramah.
Others are the Commissioner for Labour and Employment, Pharm Chika Ugwuoke; and Accountant-General of the state, Mr. Anthony Okenwa, as members. On the Labour side, chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Enugu State Chapter, Comrade Fabian Nwigbo and chairman of the state chapter of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Benedict Asogwa.

On the new asphalt plant, the governor said: “For context, it will produce 2.5 tons every minute and 160 tons per hour. What it effectively means is that if we decide to work 20 hours in a day, we can produce 3,200 tons every day. This is not seen anywhere in the South East.
“The interesting thing is that we are also committed to making sure that we produce the inputs. In a few days from now, we are going to inaugurate a plant where we will be mining and crushing the stones that we need to feed this plant.
“It is our hope that we are going to start the exploration of bitumen in the state because we are also blessed with bitumen. So, in a few years’ time, we are going to be able to produce the bitumen that will feed this plant. It means that we will get the bitumen here, get the stones, and sand so that everything is made in Enugu,” the governor said.

Mbah added that the inauguration of the asphalt plant had brought his administration closer to achieving its target of over 1,000km of roads per annum.
“This brings us closer to the dream of paving a minimum of a thousand kilometers every year in Enugu State. This is not heard of anywhere. We are talking about a length of road that you know is even a challenge to have in eight years. But we commit to doing that every year.
“So, for context, what it means is that all our urban roads will be paved, we are not going to discriminate. Just a few weeks ago, we announced the approval of N183 billion for the construction of 141 urban roads and 20 rural roads.

“Remember that we have also just completed the pavement or construction of 71 urban roads and work is ongoing on the 10 rural roads we awarded earlier.
“For our rural roads, we understand the importance because one of the challenges we have in scaling up our agriculture production is access to farmlands. So, with the commissioning of a plant like this, we are now able to access our farmlands because we are now going to have the roads to our farmlands paved, and also going to pave the roads in our rural communities.

“Therefore, our projection on roads is not a dream, but something we are already beginning to implement.”

Earlier in their addresses, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Gerald Otiji; Special Adviser to the Governor on Project Development and Implementation, Arc. Uchenna Nwatu; and the Technical Manager of the plant, Mitesh Prajapati, explained that the plant was of high standard and fit for bringing the governor’s dream of infrastructural transformation in Enugu to fruition.

“This Fabhind product is eco-friendly, and undoubtedly, will help the citizenry to benefit from smoother, safer, and more durable road networks.

“Second to none in the South East, this asphalt batch mix plant boasts of several special features that set it apart from others. With a capacity of 160 tons per hour, the plant can produce 1,500 tons of best quality asphalt a day,” Arc. Nwatu stated.

Meanwhile, others on the inaugurated committee for implementation of the New National Minimum Wage for Civil and Public Servants in Enugu State, include the chairman, Public Service Joint Negotiating Council, Comrade Ezekiel Omeh and chairman of the state chapter of the National Union of Local Government Employees, Comrade Udaya Ani are members.

Inaugurating the committee, Governor Mbah reiterated his commitment to workers’ welfare and urged the committee to consult widely with relevant stakeholders, especially the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, to ensure that the workers take ownership of the eventual report.

His words: “We have set very ambitious targets for ourselves, and we know that the only thing between us and achieving these targets will be the human resources because as great as our visions and dreams might be, it would be impossible to anything if we do not have a motivated workforce.

“We recognised it from the very onset, which is why before the discussions on the new minimum wage came up, we introduced the wage awards, and made a commitment that we would not cease until we migrate to the new minimum wage.

“That is why the constitution of this Committee for the implementation of the new national minimum wage is a very important exercise, and we have carefully selected members of this committee. We believe that you will be able to discharge yourself creditably.”

The governor added: “We expect, as terms of reference, you should be able to come up with a comprehensive review of the salary chart of all categories and cadres of workers of both the state and the local government levels, the unified local government system, using the existing state salary chart as a guide.

“Finally, we will expect to have a detailed report submitted within a month. We want to get on with the implementation of the new national minimum wage as quickly as possible.”

Speaking, the Committee Chairman and Head of Service, Kenneth Ugwu, assured the governor that the committee would surpass his expectation both in terms of time frame and quality of work.

“We are aware of your commitment to the welfare and motivation of the great workers of Enugu State. All our recommendations are going to be aligned with your vision for a highly motivated and productive public service.

“We are not only going to meet your expectations, but we are also going to surpass it. One-month period is given to us, but I assure you that we are going to submit our recommendations in record time,” he stated.

Speaking to government house correspondents, chairman of TUC, Comrade Asogwa, said Governor Mbah’s prompt action did not come to Enugu workers as a surprise, as he had been paying wage awards to workers since 2023.

According to Asogwa, “The governor also made a promise to the health professionals to pay the 100 per cent Consolidated Health Workers Salary Structure (CONHESS) starting from this month of August.

“If you go to the health industry within the state today, all the health professionals are happy because they have started receiving the new salary alerts as promised.

“So, setting up this committee did not come to us as a surprise because we know the kind of person we have as a governor. He is not playing. The governor understands what it means to enter into social contract with his people.

“We have confidence in him. We feel happy that in no distant time, our financial situation as Enugu workers will be improved in Enugu State.”