The Enugu government has vowed to recover and revamp all the state’s forestry reserves for economic development and revenue generation.

The commissioner for environment and climate change, Sam Ugwu, disclosed this on Thursday in Enugu.

Mr Ugwu noted that the state had up to 20 forestry reserves and said the government was seriously trying to recover all the forestry reserves it had lost.

The commissioner stated that the state lost some of the forestry reserves to communities due to the government’s poor attention to forestry activities.

“The government did not pay attention to forestry before, but now, we are interested in it and are going to recover those places. We have forestry reserves at Milken Hill at Ngwo, Ugwuoba, and many other places, and there are up to 20 places in Enugu.

“Before we came into power, some of the forests like the Milken Hill forestry have been allocated to people,” he said.

Mr Ugwu disclosed that the government had written a position paper on revamping the forestry commission in Enugu.

While noting that the yield was very poor, Ugwu stressed that when revamped, there would be a lot of cash inflow to the state because they would plant trees and generate a lot of money for Enugu when they mature and cut.

On waste disposal, the commissioner said that the Enugu State Waste Management Agency (ESWAMA) had been doing a lot to keep the state clean.

Mr Ugwu said that the government had commenced plans to invite investors to establish recycling plants in the state to create wealth and promote cleanliness.

He said, “We had discussion with investors to establish their plants in Enugu, and in no distant time, they will commence operation. We have another proposal of people going to homes to pick degradable and non degradable materials and take them to the recycling plant. With this, we want to show leadership and good governance.”

While noting there were gas deposits in Enugu, Ugwu said investors had also been invited to explore it.

“Within Enugu here, we have gas deposits majorly in Enugu East, Uzo Uwani, and I know if we go to other places, we may find gas,” he said.

The commissioner urged residents of the state to support Governor Peter Mbah’s administration in transforming the state by obeying environmental laws.

(NAN)