Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, has signed into law a bill to establish the Imo State Micro, Small and Medium Industries Development Agency and other related matters.
He also signed another establishing a Bureau to Coordinate, Supervise and Monitor projects undertaken by Donors/Development Partners in Imo State and other related matters.
Performing the ceremony at the Sam Mbakwe Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Owerri on Tuesday, the governor said the bills marked yet another milestone in the committed efforts of his administration to the development and growth of Imo State.
Governor Uzodimma said: “Therefore, the bills are necessary to put a body together that will supervise and monitor local manufacturing, entrepreneurship skills, private sector driven activity, intervention from government and non-governmental organisations.
“Other objectives include empowerment of local artisans, specify standards for them and ensure that products being delivered to the markets are not only hygienic but fit for human consumption.”
The governor who commended the House of Assembly leadership for the speedy passage of the Executive bills into law informed that before now there were interventions to the state from World Bank, USAID, French Developmental Agencies and other development partners, in form of water, erosion control, rural developments, rural roads and many others.
He said however that there was no record on the good interventions to show their commensurate impact on the people.
He harped on the need for a bureau that would coordinate all interventions from local and international partners, be it World Bank, State Development Agency or Federal Government, to ensure the proper management and implementation of the policies and at the end of the day, ensure that the state got value for her money.
The governor noted that it was no longer going to be business as usual with the two laws in operation in the state.
He encouraged the international organisations to continue with their empowerment programmes to the state bearing in mind a more coordinated, efficient and effective administrative organs in place to satisfy their expectations.
Presenting the bill for the governor’s assent, the Speaker, Imo State House of Assembly, Chiji Collins, said the bills had undergone all stages of legislative work – first reading, second reading and third reading after robust debate by members of House of Assembly.
He said the first bill which established an agency would be a vanguard agency and focal point for rural industrialisation, poverty alleviation and eradication, technology acquisition and adaptation, as well as job creation and sustainable livelihood.
Accordingly, the agency, he said, would regulate activities of micro, small and medium scale industries in the state and ensure that goods manufactured were of high quality.
In the same vein, the second bill, he said, was meant to coordinate, supervise and monitor the activities and funds from Donors/Development partners while liaising with state MDAs to ensure effective execution in the implementation of approved projects.
Collins also emphasised that the bills would go a long way in helping with the development of the state and that the House of Assembly was happy to work with the governor to move the state forward in that regard.
