We created 35,000 jobs in five years, Imo gov recalls

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State yesterday said his administration had offered 35,000 employment opportunities to the people since assuming office in 2011. He added that approval had also been given to recruit 3,000 graduates into the civil service.

Also, new 500 kilometres of road are to be constructed in parts of the state this year.

The governor, who made the disclosures in a state-wide broadcast in Owerri, said: ‘’This year is going to be better than 2016.”

Okorocha said government would introduce a special pension scheme to enable the state effectively discharge its obligation to retirees monthly, adding that he was satisfied for paying the entitlements of the senior citizens up to 40 per cent for Levels 07- 14 and 100 per cent for Levels 01-06 as at last month.

He noted that the scheme has become imperative
In view of the state’s N1.4 wage bill.

Okorocha relished the World Bank’s survey which puts the poverty level in the state at 19 per cent from the 57 per cent it was in 2010 primarily due to free education. He assured investors of the security of their investments.

On the energy crisis in the land, he said focus was on providing a 24- hour power supply and internet services in the state in the first and second quarters to crystallise job creation. He added that 450 storey buildings had been executed, even as he revealed that the administration’s urban renewal programme would shift to Okigwe and Orlu zones, having given Owerri a facelift.

He boasted that ‘’a brand new city of Owerri will emerge” at the completion of the urban renewal exercise.
Okorocha said all headquarters of the state’s 27 local councils had been renovated and furnished with Information Communication Technology (ICT) centres, places of worship as well as tourist sites and a 200- bed general hospitals each.

Imo Air, the governor stated, would create jobs and boost the economy of the state.

Three tunnels, he disclosed, had been completed in the capital city with 800 kilometers of rural roads built.

‘’We have given to Imo people, the capital they deserve,’’ he maintained.