The Enugu State Government has approved N183 billion for the construction of additional 141 roads across Enugu metropolis and 20 rural roads in the three Senatorial Districts.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the end of the State Executive Council meeting held at the Government House, Enugu on Sunday.

Onyia further disclosed that the council also approved the award of 133 Smart Green Schools, in addition to the ongoing 127 smart schools, bringing the number to 260.

He said that the projects were in furtherance to Gov. Peter Mbah’s determination to grow the state’s economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion.

According to him, the measure will lead to achieving a zero per cent poverty headcount index and also place the state as the premier destination for business, investment, tourism, and for living in four to eight years.

“Recall that before now, the state’s total budget hovered around N100 billion and N120 billion with capital expenditure of about N30 billion or capital expenditure to budget ratio of about 25 to 35 per cent.

“However, in keeping with Mbah’s promise to de-risk investments, boost production, and run a lean and prudent government, the governor proposed an unprecedented N521.5 billion in the 2024 budget with a capital expenditure of over N400 billion.

“This is an equivalent of capital expenditure to budget ratio of about 80 per cent and recurrent expenditure ratio of about 20 per cent.

“If you recall, we started with 71 urban roads and 10 rural roads last year.

“Now, the governor and the Executive Council have also approved 141 urban roads and 20 rural roads,” he said.

The SSG said that the proposed road projects were part of the strategies to improve the quality of life in the rural communities and importantly de-risk investments in agriculture.

“Outside security, which we are effectively dealing with, the big elephant in the room is to scale up the production and movement of produce from farmlands to the market.

“We also understand the need for processing, hence the heavy investments in road infrastructure,” Onyia said.

Giving a breakdown of the roads, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr Gerald Otiji, said the roads covered in the phase included the dualisation of the 41.3km Abakpa Nike-Opi-Nsukka Road with bridges and dualisation of Penocks Junction-Nike Lake road to T-Junction Flyover.

Others are Nomeh-Mburubu-Nara Road with two bridges, Umabi-Ehuhe Achi with a spur to Agbudu-Ihe-Owelli-Ogugu by Enugu-Port Harcourt Old Road, Nomeh-Oduma Road, Mburubu-Nkereffi Road, and Amodu-Akpugo Road.

The rest are Iheaka-Ibagwa Road, Ibagwa-Itchi-Unadu-Alor Agu-Ibeje Road, Amagunze-Ihuokpara-Ugbawka Road with a bridge, Obeleagu Umana (Nkwo Ezeagu)-Omughu Umana-Aguobu-Umumba and Nara-Nkerefi Road with a bridge, among many others.

Otiji further said that in selecting the roads for construction and reconstruction, the government was deliberate in ensuring that all the zones were covered.