Peter Mbah during the State Executive Meeting has approved and established the ministry of Energy and mineral resources.
The Governor also approved transportation transitional Energy process that will convert from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to Compressed Natural Gas(CNG)
Speaking on the new ministry, Professor Onyia said the state Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah had earlier signed the Enugu State Electricity Law and that the law required that a regulator, an Independent regulator will be set up and also a Supervisory ministry that will handle all engagements in the energy space and in the mineral resource, considering the level of mineral resource availability in Enugu state.
He emphasize that the Government had decided to setup the ministry and this ministry would take effect immediately and most of their roles, the mandate includes the over sight of most of our investment opportunities within the solid mineral space, also to help catalyze investments in the renewable energy space and in our coal to power space.
He went on to describe the next stage involve in bring about the new Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as newsmen ask for more clarification, he said , for the creation of the new ministry, there was a budget process that took place earlier. He added that line items for budgetary allocation had been set up when the regulator was set up.
“We are doing the structural things . The appointments will now be the next step of what His Excellency will direct. For now, we are trying to make sure that we create the opportunities , we will make sure the offices, the people , the civil service workforce are in place, because this is a highly technical ministry and we are going to make sure all these things are in place while the Honorable Commissioner that will superintendent over that will be appointed by His Excellency.
Hello went ahead to throw more light on the roles the New Ministry and the Ministry of Environment will play going forward, he said they play different roles. “One plays a role that complements the other one.
The ministry of Energy, we are looking across to onboard different sources of Energy, "in energy to power, gas to power, coal to power. All these things have environmental component,” Onyia mention.
“It is important to know that our focus is around climate resilience.. We are also mindful that our push should be on things that reduce our carbon footprint, So, we are very mindful of that and the two ministries will complement. one another rather than duplicating roles. So, we are very conscious of that”, Prof Onyia said.
Speaking on transition from PMS to CNG, Commissioner for Transport, Dr Obi Ozor said , “the state Executive Council resolved that it is very important for the State and her citizens to begin the process of transitioning from petrol to CNG.
He reveals that the CNG saves about half of the cost of fueling and transportation. “Which can help all the operators within the transport sector and also reduce the cost of transportation.”, Dr. Ozor said
He urged those interested in the conversion of their vehicles from petrol to to CNG to come to the ministry of transport so that they can register them. He said that they work with the federal ministry of Transport to get the CNG kits.
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