Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, on Tuesday presented a budget proposal of N96.735 billion to the State House of Assembly for consideration and passage, calling it a Budget of Transition.
The budget has a capital expenditure of N54.9 billion and N41.7 billion as re-current expenditures in the fiscal year and is three percent higher than the 2014 figure of N93.7 billion.
Works and infrastructures got the highest allocation of N14.9 billion and according to the governor, the allocation would be for the settlement of liabilities to contractors to complete on-going projects, especially in urban and rural roads rehabilitation.
Part of it would be used for the new state secretariat and the Lion Building which Chime said would be completed and furnished.
Education got an allocation of N6.1 billion, health got N4.9 billion, agriculture got N4.3 billion while water resources has N2.9 billion.
According to Chime: “The free maternal child care programme has saved lives and translated to the reduction of maternal mortality in our health facilities.
“No effort will be too much to provide affordable and improved healthcare services to our people and that is why we are making efforts to complete the state diagnostic centre.”
Reviewing the 2014 budget, Chime said that it was anchored on the government’s four-point agenda with the Visit Every Community document as compiled from the needs of the 472 communities in the state.
He said that his administration was committed to hand-over completed projects to the in-coming administration as 332 kilometres of roads were embarked on with295 completed in Enugu and Nsukka.
Chime said that his administration built a heliport for the police to ensure adequate security of lives and property in the state while contract had been awarded to extend electricity to the remaining communities.
On health, the governor said the government spent more than N3 billion to rehabilitate 70 general hospitals and 150 other health facilities.
He said that more than 100 primary schools were rehabilitated while 5,682 secondary school teachers were recruited to ensure the sustenance of the free basic education level.
He explained: “We planted more than 250 hectares of land under the Enugu State–San Carlos pineapple project with a view to exporting the product next year while 2,641 hectares have been secured for the development of an industrial park in the state.”
The governor said that as part of efforts to provide a solid foundation for the in-coming government, his administration had trained its workforce on information and communication technology to reduce the time and cost of doing business.
Chime called on the people to be guided by good conscience in selecting their leaders for the good of the state in 2015 while urging the lawmakers to give the budget accelerated passage.
The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Eugene Odo, noted that Chime’s administration had substantially implemented budgets passed by the assembly in the past seven years.
He expressed the hope that the incoming administration would emulate the cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature.
He said the Assembly would pass the budget expeditiously to enable the government to commence its early implementation.
