Ugwuanyi to connect 54 Enugu communities to national grid

RURAL dwellers in 54 communities in Enugu State will soon smile following the moves by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to connect them to national grid before 2019.

The Commissioner for Rural Development, Gabriel Onwuzulike, gave the assurance in an interview with reporters in Enugu on Wednesday.

Onwuzulike said that the state government made provision for the electricity projects in this year’s budget and had approved the connection of 40 of the remaining communities to the grid.

According to him, 418 of the 472 communities in the state had already been connected to the national grid.

He said that workers from the state’s Rural Electrification Board were currently in the field working day and night to achieve the set goal.

On the Community Social Development Project of the present administration in the state, the commissioner said that its focus was on micro projects in communities.

“We organise Community Project Management Committees, assist them with funds and monitor the use of the money, to ensure that the projects are delivered”, he added.

The commissioner said that so far 120 communities had been empowered under the scheme and they had 250 ongoing projects.

The commissioner said that the State Fire Service was undergoing transformation, adding that its four grounded engines were now being refurbished.

He said the Ministry aimed at ensuring the completion of all the 2, 854 projects which the governor promised to execute through the scheme, before the end of his tenure.