The 18 – member Palliative Implementation Committee (PIC) set up by the Akwa Ibom State government has submitted its report to Governor Umo Eno, who announced his administration’s plan to effectively allocate the resources equitably.
He additionally expressed desire to implement his “one project per local government initiative”, to create employment, reinvigorate the economy and increase cash flow within the rural communities.
To ensure the rural folks felt the impact of the projects, the governor said the jobs would be awarded to indigenous contractors from the respective LGAs, who in turn, are to recruit the locals to work on the projects.
Receiving the PIC report at the Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Uyo, Governor Eno, declared his willingness to surpass the recommendations of the committee in order to properly address the needs of the people.
The governor tasked local government chairmen to liaise with the State Executive Council to identify peculiar areas of need to be favoured by the initiative, urging the council areas to donate lands for the planned agricultural revolution by the state government.
He said: “What we are thinking of doing beyond this is to formally launch a one Local Government /One Project Initiative across the 31 local Government Areas. In the next one month, we want to ensure that we have one project in each LGAs. We want to ensure that our young people get to work in the local governments.
“We have a whole lot of projects to choose from, whether it is hospital or model school, water or any of the projects that we have listed in the A.R.I.S.E. Agenda to support rural development.
“We expect chairmen of each local government and critical stakeholders in those local governments to work with us in the Exco and be able to identify the project within the framework of what we are doing now to be able to ensure that we deliver projects to the local governments by appointing contractors within that local government that will also engage people within the local government.
“We have to sit down and review this in line with the present economic realities and what accrues to the state. That notwithstanding, we assure you of our willingness to do much more than you have recommended and continue to help our people in the short, medium and long term basis.
“What we have received so far from the federal government is two billion naira and 3000(units) 50kg bags of rice. We believe that the other ones will come. If the federal Government is donating five billion, the committee has recommended another five billion, so what we have here is ten billion as the estimates for the palliatives”, he added.
Earlier in his presentation, secretary to the state government and chairman of the Palliatives Committee, Prince Enobong Uwah, thanked the governor for his decision to set up a committee to work out modalities that would cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal on the people and ensure even distribution of the palliatives to the needy in the state, saying the gesture is commendable.
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