Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister
of State for Agriculture and Rural Development on Friday decried the slow pace
of development in Bayelsa.
He noted that the level of
development was at variance with about N 1.3 trn that accrued to the state in
seven years from the federation account.
“Look, in this state controlled by
PDP, they have done nothing. What the admisitration has gotten is more than
N1.3 trillion in about 7 years from the Federal Government.
“This is excluding local government
allocations, and loans. Yenegoa, it is the darkest city in the world. In fact,
if I knew the situation was this bad, I would have lit up the entire Yenegoa.
“I didn't know that Yenegoa is this
dark. If I had known when we were preparing the scopes of the budget I didn't
know that Yenegoa has reached this level of darkness
“I would have lit the whole of
Yenegoa, but I can assure you that by 2019, we would light up the whole of
Yenegoa.
“That will bring a lot more of
government presence to the people. You know that individuals are not expected
to light up the streets, that is the work of government and that is what we are
doing,” Lokpobiri said.
According to him, the All
Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government that is known for anti
corruption is worried about the disparity in revenue accruals and
underdevelopment in Bayelsa.
“ How can you explain N1.3 trillion
of Federal allocation and Yenegoa is the darkest city in the world.
“The state of the roads in all the
communities we went to were deplorable, these are forgotten people.
“The Federal Government through my
ministry has to remember the smallest or the remotest parts of the country and
that is why projects are extended to them.
“I am assuring them that they should
vote for the APC so that we can consolidate on what we have started,” The
Minister said.
Lokpobiri who spoke after inspecting
some ongoing projects and inaugurating completed ones noted that the ministry
embarks on micro infrastructure projects to assist farmers in the rural areas.
He explained that ministry
intervenes in its rural development function by providing rural access roads to
assist farmers to evacuate their products, construction of market stalls as
well as rural electrification.
Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa and Lokpobiri
had expressed divergent views on the financial standings of the state with the
duo making claims that disagreed with each other including debts owed by the
state.
Mr Fidelis Soriwei
Special, Dickson’s Special Adviser on Media Relation claimed that Lokpobiri was
a ‘Diaspora’ politician who was out of tune with happenings in Bayelsa.
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