By Ogenyi Ogenyi,Uyo
Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom has ordered a detailed investigation into the activities of a manufacturing company, Golden Tripod Limited, located in Uyo and its immediate relocation to the Ibom Industrial Park in Itam, Itu Local Government Area.
The company, operating in a residential part of Uyo has come under heavy fire in the last four years due to emissions from it’s operations that residents have found to be very unhealthy and which the state government has not handled with seriousness over time.
Eno who gave the order while flagging off the construction of the 2.2Km Tabernacle Road project in Uyo yesterday also directed the Commissioner for Environment and that of Internal Security to avail him with a report on activities of the factory in forty eight hours.
“Commissioner for Environment and Commissioner for Internal security, I want to have a report on what this factory manufactures in the next 48 hours.
“I understand that there is always a serious emissions around here. Please first of all find out what they do and immediately relocate them to the industrial park. It is not proper to cite factories in the middle of a city.” The Governor stated.
He urged investors establishing industries in the State to utilize the lndustrial park, assuring that with the new innovations from the government the park would provide a veritable environment for industries to thrive.
“That park has been partitioned into one hundred and fifty plots of between four thousand and five thousand square meters.
“What we are saying is that those who are ready to establish industries should come and analyse the kind of industry they intend to create. They will tell us the time frame and the number of people that will be employed, and we will then allocate lands for them.
“We are going to fence it round. We will put a police station there, we are going to get a power station to be there, we will make water available too.
” It will be like any industrial park anywhere in the world so that when we look at your project, we can allocate a land for you there.” He stated.
The Governor also assured that his administration would utilize the Industrial Park to support entrepreneurship to checkmate capital flight in the state, reaffirming that all clothing to support the education innovations of his administration would be produced by Akwa Ibom youths through the various skill acquisition programmes and support by state government.
“We want to move and motivate our young people to be able to have what to do. We will ensure that when you finish your training in the Ibom Leadership Entrepreneurial Centre, we will provide you with a shop in the industrial park and provide you necessary equipments and tools to start practicing what you learn.
“That is what our empowerment will look like. Not only will we give you a shop, we will give you business. It is our idea to start providing uniforms and shoes to our pupils in primary schools”.
On the Tabernacle Road project, Eno described the intervention as a response to the yearnings of the people as well as fulfilment of his campaign promises to extend development beyond high profile areas in the city to those in the grassroots.
“It was your desire to have a Government that will come and remember the poor and rural dwellers. That is the kind of Government you voted for. This is that dividend of Democracy I promised you. We have come here to thank all the Uyo and Itu people who supported us during the election.” The Governor said.
Presenting an overview of the project, the Commissioner for Works and Fire Service, Professor Eno Ibanga explained that beyond the road construction, the project is a major de-flooding work to reclaim the entire area, adding that the end result of the project would be a respite for the people of Uyo and Itu LGAs.
Ibanga said the 2.2km road project would be complimented by a 0.97Km underground drain that would empty into the Calabar-Itu road drainage, assuring of his Ministry’s commitment to ensure that contractors deliver according to specifications handed them by the state government.
