Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has praised Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, for his administration’s infrastructure development strides.
Mr. Fashola gave the commendation during a courtesy visit to Government House, Yenagoa, after inspecting federal projects in the state.
The Minister who applauded the Bayelsa government for its collaborative efforts with the federal government on projects sited in the state, also appreciated the helmsman on his intervention on the compensation issues for the Yenagoa-Kolo-Otuoke-Bayelsa Palm federal road, noting that it has enabled the contractor cover ten out of the twenty kilometres dual carriageway.
Mr. Fashola said he was on a facility tour of some federal project sites to assess their level of progress, stressing that some noticeable progress have been made at the federal secretariat.
He highlighted the federal secretariat, National Housing Programme phase one at Elebele, the Yenagoa-Otuoke-Bayelsa Palm road, and a state project, AIT-Igbogene outer ring road, as projects visited.
In a remark, Senator Douye Diri thanked the Minister for promising to tackle the Nembe-Brass road project through tax relief.
Governor Diri, who also called on one of the major partners of the project, Nigeria Agip Oil Company, to explore ways of collaborating with the Ministry of Works towards executing the project, said although Bayelsa is endowed with the longest coastline, the areas remain inaccessible which make response to security challenges difficult.
The governor clarified that the state received about twenty-five billion naira instead of the thirty-eight point four billion as the fund passed through the Debt Management Office and had to be discounted.
Governor Diri noted that the Kolo road was conceived in the nineteen thirties before the federal government awarded the contract in two thousand and nine but that so far only nineteen point five kilometre have been done with thirty-three point five kilometre left.
He therefore urged the federal government to partner with the state in constructing roads to link the hinterlands as well as consider Bayelsa under a special scheme in view of its challenges of difficult terrain.