Abia residents fault multiple levies

Residents of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, have decried the multiple levies said to have been imposed on them by the state government.Some of the residents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Aba recently that they were subjected to paying all kinds of levies.Mr Mathias Okolo, a businessman, said the levies included the ones for infrastructure ( N10,000); business premises (N6,000), operation permit ( N6.000); and pollution and sanitation (N5,000).He said payments were also made for clearing of gutter, refuse disposal, store licence, liquor licence and hawkers' permit.Mrs Joy Ukaonu, a resident, said the state Ministry of Environment issueD a notice for the payment of N300 per room to ``scoop drainage and cart away the refuse''.Mr Solomon Ogunji, the Commissioner for Environment told newsmen in Aba that no such notice emanated from the ministry.Ogunji said that some agencies had been contracted to de-silt the drainage and cart away the refuse in the state.He explained that the agencies would start collecting money from the people after successful conduct of the exercise for one month, adding that the state had been divided into compartments with Aba securing 17 and Umuahia ,15, for the exercise.Ogunji disclosed that the state recently got N1.7 billion from the Ecological Fund to tackle three erosion sites with N50 million counterpart funding from Abia State government.He blamed the poor state of roads in the state, especially, Aba, on blocked drains.
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