Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State has promised continuous payment of wage awards to state workers until the committee on new minimum wage concludes its work.

The governor made the pledge during the town hall meeting with Enugu people on Saturday at the Old Government House, Enugu.

The governor began the payments of the wage award of between N10,000 and N25,000 to state workers last December to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.

The town hall meeting was attended by representatives of civil society organisations, women, students, youth, business owners, traders, transport unions and others.

Mr Mbah said his government would prioritise workers’ welfare, adding that he would create values that would help workers to thrive.

“Until the new minimum wage is concluded, we will continue to pay wage awards,” he assured.

The governor who added that his administration inherited arrears of pension and gratuity of retired civil servants, explained that he did not waste time in clearing them.

“Today we are working seriously to clear that of primary school teachers and Local Government workers.

On education, Mr Mbah said his administration identified it as the strongest weapon to fight poverty, saying, “This is why we are building SMART Schools across 260 wards, which will be operational by September 2025.

“Our children will now be using tablets to study and teachers smart boards to teach while the student would learn about artificial intelligence, robotics and others that will make them technological inclined,” he said.

The governor said that the government was building level two Primary Health Centres across the 260 wards to reduce infant and Maternal mortality in the state.

Mr Mbah said that it had already awarded 30 contracts for the health centres and was about to award 100 more.

On electricity, the governor disclosed that the state was working to generate and distribute electricity to provide power for homes and businesses in the state.

“Electricity being the major infrastructural requirement for the private sector to thrive, we took advantage when the Federal Government removed it from the exclusive list to the concurrent list by establishing the Enugu State Electricity Commission.

“There shall be no monopoly as people will be allowed to buy and sell electricity.”

Mr Mbah also pledged to designed a programme to ensure students palliative and also sustain the state’s scholarship board.

(NAN)