…Targets improved infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, education, others
Governor
Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State on Monday presented a budget proposal
of N109, 199 billion for the 2019 fiscal year to the State House of
Assembly for consideration and passage.
Presenting the 2019
budget proposal tagged: ‘‘Budget of peace, equity and prosperity’’, Gov.
Ugwuanyi disclosed that the appropriation bill was 5.44% higher than
the 2018 budget of N103, 563 billion.
The governor added that the
increase was in keeping with his administration’s promise last year to
expand its expenditure vis-à-vis projects and programmes of the state as
the economy of the nation improves “to ensure that every citizen and
residents of Enugu State will reap the full benefits of the dividends of
democracy”.
Gov. Ugwuanyi who stated that his administration has
implemented the previous budgets to N85%, explained that “out of the
total budget proposal of N109.199 billion, the sum of N65.7 billion,
representing 60.17%, is for recurrent expenditure. He noted that “this
is higher than the 2018 figure of N60.7 billion by 8.22%.
He
disclosed that capital expenditure stood at N43.493 billion representing
39.3% of the budget size, which is also higher by 1.5% than the 2018
figure of 42.846 billion.
The governor revealed that works
and infrastructure would gulp the highest amount of N16.5 billion
because of the premium the state government placed on infrastructural
development of the state.
He maintained that the government
intends to complete all ongoing road projects and construct new ones
across the 17 local government areas of the state as well as provide
other critical infrastructure that will stimulate economic growth and
job creation.
Gov. Ugwuanyi added that the health sector was
allocated the sum of N2.37 billion, stating that the sector received a
boost in its financing to enable his administration fully equip the
already completed Enugu State Medical Diagnostic Centre to commence
operation in 2019. The governor pointed out that the state government
also intends to sustain and improve on the services being provided
through free maternal and child healthcare programme.
“We
want to ensure that our children, pregnant and nursing mothers do not
die from preventable ailments, thus we have set aside the sum total of
N2.37 billion to all the ministries, departments and agencies under the
health sector in the 2019 fiscal year”.
According to him,
agriculture received an allocation of N633.5m to consolidate the efforts
of his administration towards commercialization of the sector to
achieve food security in the state, while N5.522b went to the education
sector to sustain the tempo of government in the ongoing compulsory free
education from primary to junior secondary schools; renovation,
construction and equipping of schools at all levels, among others.
The
governor equally announced that the sum of N742m was budgeted for the
expansion of Enugu and Nsukka urban water scheme, boosting of small town
water supply project and the state rural supply project and the State
Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (ENRUWASA) with the aim of
“making potable water available to our people irrespective of whether
they live in a rural or urban area”.
Source:- Thepunditng
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