Asaba Waterfront City’ll Revolutionise Tourism, Urban Renewal –DTSG

BY SUNDAY EGEDE

THE Delta State Gov­ernment, on Friday, said the move to de­velop the Asaba waterfront was geared towards urban renewal and boosting the tourism potentials of the state.

Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr Kingsley Emu disclosed this shortly after a meet­ing with representatives of the host communities of the Asaba waterfront development project and the project consultants.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, Dr Emu said the Asaba Waterfront City project which was initiated three years ago and located along the banks of the River Niger, was designed to be Africa’s newest upscale, smart and tech-driven city.

He said the project is a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) venture, with Delta State Government owning 15 per cent, Asaba com­munities owning five per cent and private investors 80 per cent, adding that the project is to be financed through a combination of equity and debt capital, in addition to presales fi­nancing.

According to Emu, the Delta State Government was making lots of sacri­fices to ensure the project came on stream to ensure real urban renewal in the area.

“For the government, 15 per cent sounds big but absolutely nothing to what the government should ordinarily get. In the first instance, the government should earn C of O fees, and future ground rent from all that.

“The C of O in that area should cost about N5bn and the government has forfeited that. More so, the government has gone ahead to start the payment of compensation.

“Government is also con­structing a six-lane road to separate the North China and Falkland end and take it straight to the shore; that would create the ambience and convey the serious­ness that government truly wants to have and urban renewal. And that will cost us approximately, N5B. In all of these, the government is spending money.

“So, we do know that if we had allowed the old game that the locals want­ed to play out, it would cost us more than N10bn to manage security chal­lenges. But today, with this urban renewal arrange­ment and with all the par­ties involved agreeing to work together, we have in our hands, a new city.

“If we have 1,000 hect­ares in that corridor, it is going to be a tourist attrac­tion and bring in a lot of revenue to all the parties. And the government does not have any hand in man­aging that asset. Those who have that responsibility are the private sector.

“So, they are going to create infrastructure that will inter-link the entire 1,000 hectares and that will be the beginning of major urban renewal de­velopment in Asaba.

“We are happy and it is part of the continuity ar­rangements of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori; to con­tinue to do valuable things that he met on the ground and this is one. The Asaba people would be eternally grateful for this major in­tervention.

“And with the dredging of the River Niger, which is just along the shoreline, it would be a massive tourist attraction. So, that is the short story about Asaba Waterfront City,” the SSG added.