13th January, 2016
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
of Bayelsa State
The Bayelsa State Executive Council has approved the 2016 fiscal estimate tagged Budget of Transition with emphasis on the completion of the ongoing developmental projects across the three senatorial districts of the state.
Also, priority attention will be given to the tower and four star hotels as well as the development of tourism, agriculture and industrialization.
Speaking with newsmen alongside other members of the State Executive Council in Yenagoa, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Ambrose Akierite said this was one of the major resolutions taken at the 55th Executive Council meeting.
Mr. Akierite explained that the budget proposal would focus on the completion of ongoing projects that would generate revenue for the state, submitting that the Executive Council’s decision not to embark on new capital projects was informed by the economic realities of sliding crude oil prices, which has negatively impacted on the national economy.
Speaking in the same vein, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Duate Iyabi said the 2016 fiscal year would be targeted at completing the cargo airport, before the middle of next year.
The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Barrister Esueme Dan-Kikile added that the 2016 budget proposal would also be focused on community development initiatives, particularly in boosting the government’s drive on rural electrification tagged, Operation Light Up Bayelsa.
In his contribution, the Commissioner for Environment, Barrister Iniruo Wills said, the council decided to overhaul the waste management system and develop a multi-pronged approach to make waste disposal more viable.
According to him, the government will also build a waste recycling plant and embark on measures to ensure that the state’s waste disposal system becomes self-sustaining, in order to relieve the government of the financial burden.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ayebatonye Owei, said council deliberated on the current outbreak of Lassa fever in some parts of the country, stating that a 15-man emergency response team that was constituted during the Ebola outbreak in the country has been put on alert, in case of any possible outbreak of Lassa fever in the state.
Identifying symptoms of Lassa fever to include coughing, bleeding and body weakness, Dr. Owei said the disease was being transmitted through rats.
Consequently, he said the government has embarked on a sensitization programme on the need for people to maintain good personal hygiene and ensure that food is well cooked.