Emmanuel Ifeanyi 
Abia State Government on Wednesday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kaltani Company in a bid to turn waste into wealth in the State.
The state government equally received a delegation from the Netherlands for some proposed investments.
New Telegraph gathered that the delegation from the Netherlands led by the Deputy Consul-General, Mr Peter Keulers who were in the State on a scoping mission met the Governor and the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kaltani Company, Engr Obi Nnanna.
Otti who informed the delegation that Abia is ready and open for business, further disclosed that Abia is not seeking for aid but exploring areas of collaboration for mutual benefits.
He noted that when he assumed office as the Governor of the State in 2023, the State was classified as the dirtiest State in Nigeria, hence, his decision to declared a state of emergency in waste management and environmental sanitation.
Otti said that a whole lot has been achieved and Abia is currently rated as one of the neatest States and now the government is moving to the next level of converting waste to wealth.
“What we have done is to evacuate the rubbish and put them somewhere. We are now moving to the next stage which is the stage of, what do we do with that heaps of rubbish and that is why Kaltani Company came in to say, there is two ways to deal with it.
“We thought that the better thing to do will be to convert the waste into products that people will buy.
“What will this products be, there are a lot of them and people talk about waste to wealth or waste to energy and that is in very serious demand here and that is where he (The Honourable Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities) comes in because it is part of our strategy.
“We need to solve the energy problem in Abia. I’ll say that we are almost there, and it is in the same Aba that we are talking about, that has power from an independent integrated power company that runs on a 24 hour basis.”
Otti stressed the high demand of electric power to the entrepreneurial Abians and residents, adding that his government would support them.
“The demand for energy is inelastic and you know how it is for people who are entrepreneurs, people who have capacity to produce anything, so these people require support from government.
” For us, we believe that if we are able to provide enough power for our people, we would have solved half of the problems.”
The Deputy Consul-General, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr Peter Keulers said that his delegation is on a scoping mission to meet with government, private sector and academic/research organizations to discuss possible areas of deployment of Dutch Technology and knowledge to meet both commercial and policy objectives in the areas of waste management, circular aspect of Agriculture among others.
Mr Keulers while noting that circular economy is so dear to the Kingdom of Netherlands, said that, it will lead to a more sustainable and resilient economy with less pollution and waste, and even lead to a more efficient use of scarce resources as well as engender quality of life.
The Deputy Consul-General informed the Governor that Circular economy has the potential of creating all kinds of economic opportunities and jobs in the future.
Mr Keulers pointed out that they are focused on promoting bilateral relations, having visited the proposed site for the Kaltani waste management facility in the State
Also speaking earlier, the Managing Director cum Chief Executive Officer of the Kaltani Company and key development partner of the waste to wealth project, Engr Obi Nnanna said that they are a ready partner in the project of waste collection and recycling.
Nnanna expressed his joy for the opportunity to collaborate with Governor Alex Otti in realizing his vision for the State.
He described Governor Otti as a man of vision, and a man that wants to create a lasting impact in the lives of Abia people, stressing that he is happy to be part of that story.
