The Enugu State government has announced plans to establish a new ministry to oversee the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses set to launch in the state.
The latest development, aimed at achieving affordable transportation in the state, was made known by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, and the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Obi Ozor, after a meeting of the State Executive Council on Saturday.
Onyia, who cited the newly signed Enugu State Electricity Law by Governor Peter Mbah, revealed that a new ministry would be created to handle all “our engagements in the energy space and also in our mineral resource space.”
Investors King gathered that the newly created ministry named the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will oversee the energy and mineral investment.
Onyia noted that the new ministry would take effect immediately.
He said, “EXCO today, to now create this Ministry, and the mandate includes oversight of most of our investment opportunities within the solid mineral space and also to help catalyse investments in the energy space.
“EXCO resolved that this new Ministry would take effect immediately.”
Speaking further on the development, Dr Ozor echoed the importance of moving from petrol to CNG buses.
According to him, the move will save half of the cost of fuel, thereby reducing the cost of transportation for residents of the state.
“The Executive Council resolved that it is very important for the state and her citizens to begin the process of transitioning from petrol to CNG, which saves about half of the cost of fuel for our transportation, thereby reducing the cost of transportation for our people.
“All these are geared towards bringing safe and affordable and sustainable transportation system. This ties into the infrastructure that is underway – the bus terminals, improved bus shelters, the internet of things and gadgets in these buses that will allow us to be able to know where our citizens are and make sure that they are safe from any incident.
“The state is also creating an enabling environment to attract the right investors within the CNG space, and the state has already done that in partnership with Greenville Energy,” he stated.