Abyan local government reports development to President

SANA’A, Feb 03 (Saba)- The local government of Abyan reported to President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday, as he visited Abyan, the progress of development in the province. The report cited projects achieved and others underway in field of education, health, environment, agriculture, electricity, sports, telecommunication and local governance. “The overall cost of the 2004 projects in Abyan is Yr 6,784,000000 million, with more than 4,880,000,000 the costs of telecommunication projects alone,” said the report. “In field of local governance, projects at a cost of Yr 360 million will be carried out and other agricultural irrigation projects will cost Yr 564 million.” “A number of water and sanitation projects at a total of 320 million rials are planned to be implemented in 2005.” According to report, “about 126 medical units and 15 health centers were set up last year.” President Saleh highlighted the role of local councils in the construction of developmental projects. “The local councils are the real centres of power,” President Saleh said. “They are the bodies in question of collecting revenues from across the country.” The president said a regular meeting of local councils for addressing development issues was a necessity. Because Abyan is an agricultural province, President Saleh concluded, there must be a focused construction of dams and other water preserving facilities.” AA/AA SABA