The Enugu State Government is taking steps to introduce Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses as part of the efforts to preserve the environment and also make transportation affordable for citizens.

The state government has equally created the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to oversight and catalyse investment in the energy and mineral sector.

These were made known by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, and the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Obi Ozor, after a meeting of the State Executive Council at the weekend.

Briefing Government House correspondents after the meeting, Prof. Onyia said, “Recall that earlier in this administration, the governor signed the Enugu State Electricity Law and that Law requires that an independent regulator will be set up, but there will also will be a supervising ministry that will handle all our engagements in the energy space and also in our mineral resource space.

“Considering the level of mineral resources availability in Enugu State, the government had decided, at the end of EXCO today, to now create this Ministry and the mandate includes oversight of most of our investment opportunities within the solid mineral space and also to help catalyse investments in the energy space. EXCO resolved that this new Ministry would take effect immediately.”

On his part, Dr. Ozor said the state was not only introducing CNG buses, but also building the supporting infrastructure to ensure ease of operation and safety of commuters, noting that the government is also doing its part to not only invest more in buying CNG buses, but also to support private sector investment in the transportation space.

“The Executive Council resolved that it is very important for the state and her citizens to begin the process of transitioning from petrol to CNG which saves about half of the cost of fuel in our transportation, thereby reducing the cost of transportation for our people.

“All these are geared towards bringing safe and affordable and sustainable transportation system. This ties into the infrastructure that is underway – the bus terminals, improved bus shelters, the internet of things and gadgets in these buses that will allow us to be able to know where our citizens are and make sure that they are safe from any incident.

“The state is also creating an enabling environment to attract the right investors within the CNG space and the state has already done that with partnership with Greenville Energy,” he stated.

He explained that the government was already constructing a massive CNG mother station at Ugwu Onyeama, which would have the capacity to serve the entire South East, adding that the construction of the ancillary daughter stations that would look like filling stations would commence in a matter of weeks.