By Ruth Oginyi
The ministry of mines and steel, on Tuesday, received a landed property from the Ebonyi state government for the establishment of Artisanal Small Scale Mineral processing plant for the South East Zone at Egu-Ogwu village Uburu, Ohauzara local government area of the state.
State governor, Engr. David Umahi, received the minister of state for mines and steel development, Dr. Uche Ogah, during the hand over at the new Government House, Ochoudo City, Abakaliki.
The minister, thanking the state government for donating the land, debunked the allegations that he boycotted the exercise last week Friday due to governor’s disagreement with Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and blamed his inability to perform the exercise as earlier scheduled on flight challenges.
Ogah said that siting of the Artisanal Small Scale Mineral processing Centre in Ebonyi state was the federal government’s plan to establish one of such institutions in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country in response to the effect of COVID-19.
While expressing hope that the establishment, when fully operational, would bring about efficiency in mining and mineral processing operations in the country, the minister appealed to the state government to strengthen their partnerships to ensure the realisation of the targets.
Reacting, Governor Umahi thanked the federal government for the choice of Ebonyi state for the centre and attributed the development in the state to the president’s interventions.
Governor Umahi denied having a rift with the minister of science and technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, as reported in some sections of the media and expressed his commitment to partnering with the federal government to achieve its target in the state.
“I never had an issue with Dr. Onu for once. Some people have so bastardised news that people are no longer interested. When I left the PDP, I said we had been unfairly treated because the development of individuals is not the development of the region.”