Enugu State Government is to recruit 17 revenue drivers and 33 audit firms to address the shortfall in its internally generated revenue, the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Godwin Udeuhele, has said.

Addressing newsmen on Thursday on the outcome of the State Executive Council on Wednesday, Udeuhele said government was concerned about how to shore up its internally generated revenue.

Udeuhele said that government also intended to negotiate with major bandwidth providers with a view to selecting the appropriate ones to work with.

“The ECXO approved the recruitment of 17 revenue drivers, 33 audit firms and authorised the Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) to negotiate with major bandwidth providers.

“Before today, we have been having dwindling internal revenue. The revenue drivers are different companies who are professionals in revenue management.

“The audit firms will audit different facets of our income and interface with the companies to help them achieve their goals.”

Udeuhele said that the state government had also taken steps to reorganise the Enugu State Waste Management Agency (ESWAMA) following noticeable lapses.

He said that there were series of complaints against the waste agency on its incapability to evacuate refuse from dump sites for more than two weeks, prompting government to set up committee to unravel the problem.

The commissioner said that government frowned at such laxity and co-opted the Ministry of Enugu Capital Development Authority to take over the responsibility due to the extent of stench across the city.

“The commissioner for Enugu Capital Development Authority was on a rescue mission at ESWAMA with a view to ensuring the clean-up of Enugu.

“He was given one week but the council expressed deep appreciation of the level of work done so far and noted that more needed to be done.

“This intervention work by the ministry was extended by one month to enable the commissioner to complete the task as well as reorganise the agency for effective discharge of its mandate.”

Udeuhele said that the committee identified several faults, adding that the managing director of ESWAMA would return to her job at the end of the intervention.

“There were excess garbage everywhere in the state and massive complaint on the non-removal of refuse at dump sites.

“We gave the ministry one month to clean it up then the Managing Director will return, continue from where the ministry would stop and follow guidelines that would be established,” Udeuhele said. (NAN)

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