28th October, 2015
Jethro Ibileke/Asaba
Governor Ifeayin Okowa of Delta State has set up a seven-man committee to review the execution of the multi-billion naira tourism park at Olori, in Udu local government area of the state.
The state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ernest Ogwezzy, dropped the hint on Tuesday during a State Executive Council briefing he held in conjunction with his counterparts at the Information and Transport Ministries, Patrick Ukah, Vincent Uduaghan respectively and the Job Creation Officer of the State, Eric Eboh.
According to Ogwezzy, the state government under the watch of Governor Okowa, frowned at the fact that the state government has completed all its obligations in respect of the Memorandum of Understanding to develop the multi-billion naira project, whereas, the contractor was yet to execute commensurate job.
He reiterated Governor Okowa’s commitment towards developing the tourism sector to be a high revenue earner in the face of dwindling revenue from oil resources disclosing that plans were also on to revive ailing cultural heritage of the state through cultural week and other activities.
Aso speaking at the briefing, the Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Vincent Uduaghan, disclosed that efforts of Governor Okowa towards curbing the menace of trailers on the highways in the state have started paying off, stating that trailers that were parked illegally were been impounded.
Uduaghan also said that Governor Okowa’s administration was against the trend of loosening plate numbers of vehicles parked wrongly in the state, especially, the state capital, Asaba saying, “it is illegal to remove plate numbers of vehicles as a means of punishment, it is also a wrong way of revenue generation because, the laws stipulated that only the state has the right over mechanical objects and I can tell you that no state government official is removing plate number of vehicles.”
On his part, the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, buttressed the fact that it was important for civil servants to avail themselves of the opportunities to own houses at the housing estate at Ugbolu, he noted that about seventy housing units were almost available for occupation, while the Job Creation Officer, Mr. Eboh, lauded the job creation initiative of Governor Okowa’s administration, asserting that it was on record that only the Delta State government has initiated such job creation mechanism in the country.
According to him, the 6000 jobs in six months for Deltans was feasible as there was a well-thought out plan to execute such, assuring that measures have been put in place to make the state the food basket of the nation.
This week’s Exco meeting which held at the Government House, Asaba, was presided over by the Deputy Governor, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro.