GOVERNOR Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has vowed that his administration would complete the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, MRO, facility to ensure the project which was initiated in 2002 begins operations.
Eno reaffirmed his campaign promise to ensure the completion of all key projects initiated and started by past administrations in the state.
He spoke on Thursday when he led members of the State Executive Council and State Legislators to inspect key projects which are at various stages of development, including the MRO facility, internal roads at Dakkada Luxury Estate, the New Smart Terminal Building, and the Airport Medical Centre at Victor Attah Int’l Airport.
At the New Terminal Building, Eno acknowledged that there was a soft opening of the facility upon completion of major construction works, and expressed commitment to making funds available for the required fine-tuning to ensure it’s fully activated by April 2024.
His words: “I had to come here personally with members of my Exco and members of House of Assembly so that we can see things for ourselves and try to know where we direct funding. Yes, we had a soft opening and now there is still some work to be done. So we budgeted for it.
.”Thankfully I came with the Honourable Speaker and leadership of the House. As I campaigned for governorship, we knew there were some projects that we must fine-tune for the Akwa Ibom people to derive the full benefits.
” It’s a relay race, people run and give you the baton to run the finishing line. I believe and hope that our team here will be the one to get to the finishing line and be part of the history that has already been made”
Inspecting the ongoing construction of internal roads at the Dakkada Luxury Estate, the Governor commended the contractors for making the progress achieved so far despite not getting corresponding funding from the government.
He assured the contractors that the state government will allow housing developments in the Estate to commence by the end of January, adding, “I would like to thank the contractors, actually the ones that have not been mobilized, but they have shown good faith.
“I think they have done a fantastic job given the reason I have just explained. But as I will go back to the office, we will try within the next two weeks to ensure that they are mobilized so that they can take full advantage of the dry season.”
In his remarks, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Elder Udeme Otong, lauded Governor Eno for running a transparent and open government, by ensuring that the monies appropriated for key projects in the state were been utilized judiciously.
Otong pledged that the State Assembly under his watch would continue support to the executive to ensure it delivers democratic dividends to the Akwa Ibom people.
On his part, the Commissioner for Lands, Capt. Iniobong Ekong (Rtd) whose ministry supervises the Dakkada Luxury Estate, explained that the 16.8 km internal Roads are being handled by 8 contractors for speedy completion.
He assured that the contractors would take advantage of the dry season to complete the remaining internal Roads that are yet to be completed so that the next phase of job execution, which is the actual construction of the Houses would commence.
