Ahamefula Ogbu
20 August 2008
Port Harcourt — Air France, paint manufacturers, banks and telecommunications companies yesterday jostled for participation in the "Port Harcourt City Renewal Project" where the Ministry of Housing is pushing a programme for the painting of all houses in the city.
Air France told THISDAY at the forum that it wanted to identify with the project because it would beautify the city and make it friendly for people but refused to give details on the nature of the raffle draw it said it would conduct on the project.
Its representative at the forum, Mr. Gilbert Yann, said they were still working out the details and would unfold it once they conclude but assured that they were participating in the project.
However, various paint manufacturers in the country chose to paint monuments and landmarks while others chose the oldest building in the state said to have been built in 1929 as a way of contributing to the return of the city to its former glory.
Declaring the stakeholders' forum open, Commissioner for Housing in the State, Alice Lawrence-Nemi, said the beautification of the city and making it more conducive for residents was a dream that must be achieved.
"It is the dream of this ministry and to a greater extent in pursuit of the policy of the present government to ensure that residents of the State live in a well maintained decent and safe accommodation at affordable costs", she said.
She noted that the attitude of property owners in the state have been that of insensitivity to the conditions, pointing out that she was in the ministry to change the order and ensure that residents begin to appreciate the need to live in a well maintained, decent and beautiful city.
To achieve that, the Commissioner pointed out the need for a change in attitude towards our houses, and stressed the need for painting and beautifying them through planting of flowers for aesthetics.
At the forum banks which attended and promised to provide facilities for the success of the programme and to paint some free were First Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa and Bank PHB among other while paint makers included Julius Berger Paints, DN Meyer, Portland Paints Dulux and many others.
Telecommunications companies which attended were Glo and Zain.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
