By Collins Agwam
: Dualization of Agbor Township roads, Dualization of Cable point road, Alisimie Ozanogogo road, Ubeji/Jeddo road and Jesus Saves road. Okowa who recently inspected some on-going road and market projects in Sapele and Okpe Local Government Areas urged the contracting firms, especially indigenous construction firms to justify government’s confidence in them. He decried the slow pace of work at some of the road projects and urged the construction firms to speed up their pace to meet the project specifications and time schedule,promising to embark on regular inspection of projects in the state to ensure strict adherence to set standards. “ I am satisfied with the level of work being done in terms of quality, but the pace of work is actually slow and l did make the comment to the contractor handling the Kpokpogri Okuvo-Opuraja Road, that l believe it can go faster than it is and l have made that known to the contractors and this is the reason why we will be on site as regularly as we can”, Senator Okowa said. Ekwueme assured Deltans that rural communities would feel the impact of government in the distribution of projects, explaining that his administration has worked out modalities for the funding of projects to completion and as such, no project would be abandoned. At the 3.7km Amukpe – Okirigwe – AT&P Road dualization project with walkways and drains, Senator Okowa commended the quality of work and called on the contractor to speed up the pace of work on the project. At the 2.4km Okuvo – Kpokpogri – Opuraja – Iriama Junction Road, where excavation work was on-going, he decried the slow pace of work on the project being handled by a local contracting firm, and called on local contractors to justify government’s confidence in them by living up to expectations. The governor also inspected the 2.7 km Ejinyere – Orodje Street, road project and Orerokpe Modern Market project Senator Okowa was accompanied on the inspection visit by the Works Commissioner, Chief James Augoye, Information Commissioner, Mr. Patrick Ukah, Housing Commissioner, Mr. Joseph Ogeh and the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Barr. Mary Iyasere. The people's governor did not forget the Agricultural sector as he inaugurated a 16-man Agricultural Marketing Coordination Committee (AMCC), speaking during the inauguration of the Committee which has the State Chief Job Creation Officer, Prof. Eric Eboh as Chairman in Asaba, Governor Okowa said that the committee was "to develop the agricultural sector in line with our stated objectives of economic diversification, food security, self-reliance and prosperity for all." "This is in consonance with our electoral promise to reform the agricultural sector for the purposes of wealth creation, boosting employment, achieving value addition and sustainable economic growth," Governor Okowa said, adding, "we have invested substantial resources, personnel, time and energy to stimulate agricultural production through the Production and Processing Support Programme (PPSP) and we must do much more than boost the yields from the agricultural sector." The AMCC, Governor Okowa said would "tackle the marketing challenges faced by farmers in Delta State and help farmers worry less about finding suitable markets for their produce, while ensuring that they prosper from the work of their hands, thereby make farming attractive once again." The Committee has as terms of reference: "identify existing and potential markets for agricultural produce and device measures and arrangements for farmers to access those markets; obtain and disseminate market information to agricultural producers and thereby improve information flow between farmers and processors." Governor Okowa reiterated that the Committee would also, "proffer measures for establishing and improving market infrastructure and facilities such as warehouses, cold storage, output aggregation and processing centres; identify and coordinate actionable measures to encourage market-oriented production by farmers; collaborate with national and international agencies in fostering linkages between farmers and markets;" among other terms of reference. Okowa did not just concentrate on road constructions and Agriculture, he also directed his transformation breeze to the education sector by re-building the famous Ofegbe Technical College, Agbor Technical College and Sapele Technical College. This was in a bid to ensure students get sound education with adequate facilities. The health sector was not left untouched as the Abavo General Hospital and Patani General Hospital are wearing a new look. Not leaving the youths behind, Okowa has shown his commitment to the well- being of the people, particularly the unemployed youths and women who are willing to engage in one vocation or the other. The journey to economic empowerment and self-reliance for the youths began when the governor inaugurated the Job and Wealth Creation Scheme, code named ‘OkowaPlus’, designed to assist youths to acquire skills, tackle unemployment and raise entrepreneurs under the headship of Prof Eric Eboh who is the Job creation officer of the state. The job creation programme includes Youth Agricultural Progremme, YAGEP, Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme, STEP, Production and Processing Support Programme, PPSP, and the micro credit administered by the State Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency. Senator Okowa has remained focused even with the dwindling oil price affecting the economy in meeting with the demands of workers in the state as he has ensured that workers get their salaries as and when due. With all this great and wonder works of the governor in just nine months in office, one cannot but say, Thank You to Ekwueme for his selfless service to Deltans and pray for a success of his administration.
Collins Agwam can be reached via telephone 08039509281... Gmail. agwamcollins@gmail.com
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