Barely two years left to the expiration of his second term in office, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state, has said his government would strive to ensure that abandoned projects are not left behind for his successor in 2019/20.
The Governor made this statement while speaking with journalists in Yenagoa, the state capital.
He noted that though no government has embarked on development projects, particularly capital intensive ones like the ‘Restoration Government’ under his watch has done, he however assured that his government is working to ensure the incoming government does not inherit uncompleted projects.
Said he “Though the general comments from the people is that we are handling so many projects at the same time, and their fear borders on our possibility of completing the projects.
“We are in a hurry to change the landscape of Bayelsa because we met a state in dire need of development. When we came on board nothing was working; the education sector was comatose, as well as other sectors of the economy.
“The civil service was characterized by massive payroll fraud with an over bloated wage bill that impedes development; these are the challenges we met on assumption of office,” Dickson said.
The Governor pointed that to tackle the malaise, a state of emergency was declared in the education sector, that culminated in the revamping of primary and secondary schools, award of scholarship within and outside the country, the building of the world class Ijaw academy, and other boarding school facilities in the councils and constituencies in the state.
Continuing, he noted that health care was not left out with the state of the art diagnostic hospital, government house hospital, referral hospitals in the councils, and primary health facilities among others.
Dickson, who on assumption said he promised to hit the ocean from three flanks, has actually constructed roads to Nembe/Brass, Southern Ijaw and Ekeremor communities down to Agge where the deep sea port is located.
The Governor, who was received in Aleibiri and other communities in Ekeremor, urged the people to support the ‘Restoration Government’ to enable her extend the hitherto abandoned road to other communities in the area.
According to him, “We have done all this amidst recession; we will not be discouraged, and we will strive to complete the airport project, basically to move the state economy to the next level.
“We have sanitized the civil servants; we have constituted committee to flush out payroll fraudsters in the council and state civil service; to stop their nefarious act of receiving salaries from multiple pay points.”
Dickson emphasized that within the ambit of limited resources, his government would ensure that projects started by the ‘Restoration Government’ would be completed to allow the incoming government takes off smoothly.
To this end, he urged Bayelsans to continue to support the ‘Restoration Government’ to enable it serve them much better, particularly now that it has barely two years to the expiration of its second tenure in office.
Support Quality Journalism in the Niger Delta Region
Join us in our mission to bring development journalism, cultural preservation, and environmental awareness to the forefront. Your contribution makes a difference in the lives of the people of the Niger Delta. Donate today and be a part of the change!
