The Abia State Government (ABSG) has said that it will soon launch the 25-year Greater Aba Master Plan, a comprehensive and long-term document that will guide the future development of Aba, the commercial hub of the State.
Okey Kanu, Commissioner for Information, stated this in Umuahia, while briefing journalists on the outcome of this week’s State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.
He said that the State Government, through collaborative effort between the Greater Aba Development Authority and UN-Habitat, had been working assiduously to deliver on the master plan, which he said, would address the land-use infrastructure of Aba.
“The master plan is designed to rest on four pillars. The first pillar is road infrastructure, transportation, development and connectivity within Aba. The second pillar will deal with the economic development of Aba. It will deal with industrial zones, upgrades and formalization of commercial hubs within the city.
“The third pillar will deal with sustainable development and planned urban expansion of Aba. And the fourth pillar will deal with terrestrial, residence and flood management, which of course have been a perennial problem of that city,” Kanu stated.
The Abia Information boss also stated that the Abia State Social Health Insurance Scheme had so far enrolled 91,227 persons, a figure he said was quite encouraging.
He hinted that the State Executive Council had granted approval for the Ministry of Health and the Agency to extend their services to the informal sector. He added that, in the coming weeks, they would roll out the second phase of the scheme.
He equally announce that, a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facility, fully installed with relevant sophisticated equipment, has become operational in the state, particularly at the Abia State Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia.
He said that the ICU would improve emergency care services and special types of surgeries that would be undertaken by the Facility
