The Enugu State Government has approved the completion of the abandoned Enugu International Conference Centre (ICC) and expressed readiness to revamp other moribund facilities and structures in the state.

The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ugochi Madueke, made this known while briefing journalists on the outcome of a meeting presided over by Governor Peter Mbah at the Government House Enugu on Friday.

The commissioner, who said the Enugu ICC would be a world-class venue in the entire South East region, noted that it would make Enugu an international city alongside its international airport.

This, she said, would provide a major attraction for organisers of mega conferences and become a destination for tourists from across the globe.

She added that the centre would not only create hundreds of jobs for the teeming youths in the state but also increase the state’s internally generated revenue, and she assured that the project would be completed by March 2024.

The Enugu International Conference Centre, which would have been one of the legacy projects of former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani’s administration before leaving office in 2007, has been abandoned for the past 16 years.

The centre has a 3,000-capacity auditorium, a 1,500-capacity secondary event venue, a dome with a 500-seat capacity, a shopping facility, a food court, and a recreation center with a mini amusement park, among other enticing facilities.

On the controversy surrounding the Presidential Hotel Enugu, the State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Aka Eze Aka, reiterated that the hotel was not for sale and urged Enugu people to disregard the rumour of sales making the rounds by mischief makers.

While maintaining that the 180-day deadline for the revival of the water project in the Enugu metropolis remains sacrosanct, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Felix Nnamani, said reticulation was still ongoing and called on the residents to report any fault identified around their areas to the ministry for onward actions.

Mr Nnamani said that as the construction is still ongoing, the water supply to the areas that have been completed may be epileptic as the contractors test-run the project by switching on and off to identify areas that need attention.

He urged the people not to panic whenever their water stopped flowing.

While commending the state governor for his commitment to infrastructural development in the state, Gerald Otiji, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, said the identified 71 roads in the urban areas, to be constructed, expanded, dualised, and rehabilitated in the first phase of the road project, would be carried out.

He hinted that the roads would be completed by December and urged the residents not to panic whenever they saw heavy-duty trucks conveying equipment to their areas. 

(NAN)