By Bassey Nkponam
UYO
In a bid to reduce housing deficit in Akwa Ibom, the State government is converting the reclaimed Uyo Village refuse dump site into a Government Residential Area (GRA) comprising of a creative village, and a housing estate.
The State governor, Pastor Umo Eno, who stated this, Tuesday, while fielding questions from Government House correspondents shortly after inspecting the reclaimed dump-site at Uyo Village road, spanning over 100 hectares of land alongside the ravine prone landscape that has been sand-filled for future development, said the entire area has been reclaimed and mapped out for proper development purposes with appropriate water channels.
Eno made known that the ravine will be adequately transformed to contain Uyo GRA first with about 150 middle-class housing; and the creative village with a spur to link them all.
He said the project was strategically designed to open up previously unusable land, address erosion challenges and create new development corridors for housing, agriculture and creative industry, all within close proximity to the Uyo city centre.
“The truth is, with vision and foresight, we can do a lot. You won’t believe this was a terrible refuse dump-site. Today, we have reclaimed it all, over a 100 hectares of land to be used for housing, agriculture, and more.
“This project is about reclaiming valuable land close to the city centre and deliberately deploying it for the benefit of our people”, Eno said.
The governor explained that his decision to visit the site was informed by the need to physically examine the road design and fully appreciate the scope of work being executed by the contractors beyond technical presentations earlier made in his office.
He expressed satisfaction with the progress so far achieved, noting that the area, once used as a dump site has been successfully reclaimed as part of efforts to support government’s long-term urban development policy, urging contractors to ensure timely delivery and quality execution as the Uyo Village road project will address housing deficit and would contain middle-income housing and other strategic residential developments.
Eno said his administration was committed to ensuring that every square meter of the reclaimed land serves the people of Akwa Ibom, as the various projects being embarked upon by the government were opening up significant job opportunities for youths and local workers.
The governor urged Akwa Ibom youths to embrace the opportunities and uphold the culture of hard work, emphasising that deliberate infrastructural development could serve as a catalyst for economic growth.
According to him, the 2026 budget of N1.584 trillion reflects the scale of planned projects, urging citizens to engage with the budget and key into its opportunities, as with collective effort, Akwa Ibom can achieve development standards comparable to global cities.
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