Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia has urged the Federal Government to convert impounded substandard tyres into raw materials for the production of conveyor belts and other rubber-based items.
Ikpeazu made the call at a town hall meeting organised by the Federal Government in Umuahia on Monday.
He differed with other Nigerians calling for the destruction of the tyres, saying, “N5 billion worth of rubber cannot be destroyed by fire hence they should be converted into raw materials’’.
Besides, he said that because Nigeria lacked the technology to destroy the items properly, doing so with fire would pose serious environmental hazard.
The governor suggested that the government should penalise the suspected Chinese, who allegedly smuggled the items into the country, by compelling them to build a rubber company in Nigeria.
He expressed happiness over AFRINEXIM Bank’s intervention in providing the 100 million dollars needed by Geometric Power Plant, Aba, to pay the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company.
He said that the development meant that the problem of power in the commercial city would soon be over.
Ikpeazu also spoke on the letters reportedly written by former Gov. Orji Kalu and his former deputy, asking to be paid their pensions.
He said that the issue was politicised, and warned that politicising the matter could make it difficult for government to pay them.
He, however, said that he had directed the letters to the appropriate agencies of government to treat.
“There is no special pensioner. A pensioner is a pensioner,” he said, adding that the state government was looking into the case of pensioners.
On kidnapping in the state, Ikpeazu underscored the need to tackle the menace with the use of technology and appealed to the Federal Government to purchase 37 trackers for the states and Abuja.
He suggested that the cost of the trackers should be deducted at source from the states’ allocation at the Federation Account over a period of time.
He said that the device would make the fight against kidnapping easier and more successful, adding that no state could afford N800 million needed to purchase the tracker.
Ikpeazu further appealed to the government to expedite action on the rehabilitation of the dilapidated Ohafia-Arochukwu road so that investors could move in to harness abundant mineral deposit in the area
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