By Michael Odiah
The Secretary to the Delta State Government, Hon Festus Ovie Agas has said that Governor Okowa’s administration is anchored on the legacy of Wealth Creation and Prosperity for all Deltans in line with its electoral promises adding that the State Government had engaged over 2,500 unemployed youths and further transformed them into entrepreneurs through the instrumentality its job creation scheme even in the face limited resources.
The Secretary to the Delta State Government, Hon. Festus Ovie Agas made these statements during the maiden edition of the 2018 Ministerial Press Briefing which was put in place by the Ministry of Information to engage the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to take turn to brief the press held at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Information, Asaba, where he disclosed a robust scorecard in accordance with Governor Okowa’s legacy adding that “The success of the schemes has attracted commendations and support of many national and international institutions, including the World Bank which became a co-sponsor for the third-cycle of the program” stressing that “ a Department of Monitoring and Mentoring under the Governor’s Office has been established to properly monitor the implementation of these programmes and mentor the beneficiaries.”
Hon Agas further said that the purpose of the Contributory Health Scheme is to improve the availability and access to quality healthcare services for all Deltans, stressing that over 62 General Hospitals, 107 Primary Health Care Centres, 10 private hospitals and the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba had been accredited for the programme,adding that anyone that was made to make payments covered by the scheme at any of the health facilities should either go to the commission or come to his office with the receipt(s) for a refund.
The SSG also said that a total of 165 roads across urban, rural and riverine landscapes with a total length of 776.5 kilometers which had increased as at the time of the briefing,stressing that 70 road projects with a length of 263 kilometers had been completed and others were at various stages of progress, adding that efforts to avert the aftermath of the perennial rain flood in Asaba through the instrumentality of of the ongoing storm-drain project is at top gear , stressing that it will reduce below minimum the quagmire-tic flooding seasonally affecting the capital territory.
Asaba Airport To Be Shut Down For 5 Weeks.
Hon Agas who in response to allegations said that due process was followed in the awarding of the new secretariat complex also said that that the Asaba international airport had been closed to traffic for five weeks with effect from today, April 9, 2018 to enable the completion of the resurfacing of the runway, saying that after the resurfacing, bigger Airplane would land at the Airport, adding that “In order to further boost the economy of the State, the Asaba Airport has been undergoing a major upgrade especially, the resurfacing of its runway and the provision of some vital technical facilities such as the Voice Communication System (VCS), the Automatic Weather Observation System (AWOS) and Low Level Windshear Alert System (LLWAS).”