Onyedi Igwe, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Executive Council has granted approval to acquired a N15bn facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria Infrastructure Fund to complete m three critical projects initiated by Governor Nyesom Wike.
Then Projects are the Oyigbo -Okoloma Road; Chokocho-Igbodo Road and the 10th flyover at Rumuokwurushi -Elimgbu.
The Commissioner for Finance, Isaac Kamalu made the disclosure shortly after the State Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.
He explained that the government decided to access the CBNIF loan with 5 percent interest to ensure speedy completion of the projects.
He said: “Council in her deliberations at the Executive Council meeting today approved that the Rivers State Government should access the Central Bank of Nigeria Infrastructure Support Facility to the tune of N15billion.
“This will be utilised as further support for the critical infrastructure that the State is embarking and presently prosecuting, which are the Chokocho-Igbodo Road in Etche Local Government; the Oyigbo-Okoloma Road in Oyigbo Local Government Area and the Rumuokwurushi -Elimgbu flyover.
“You will recall that prior to now, the Rivers State Government had accessed funds for these projects. However, these funds even if put together will not be able to accomplish these three critical projects mentioned.
“And so, government felt that one way it could fast track the completion of these projects will be to participate in this Central Bank Infrastructure Facility, considering that the facility has a very low interest rate of 5 percent, repayable within 20 years with three years moratorium.”
It was also the decision of the council to recover dilapidated government quarters from civil servants and illegal occupants within Old and New Government Residential Area (GRA) , Port Harcourt and reallocate same to competent private individuals.
The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, explained that the council took the decision because some of the properties were fraudulently acquired by retired civil servants through dubious processes of allocation and sale.
He said: “The properties were totally in an uninhabitable condition and were converted into commercial and business uses. In some cases, they were sublet to private tenants, as well as the use of the premises for poultries, fish ponds, barbing saloons, and other unauthorized uses.
“The Task Force set up by the Rivers State Government to look into this matter found out that some of these properties were found to be under illegal occupants by non-civil servants, some of whom are non-indigenes.
“This has therefore necessitated the recovery of these properties as part of government’s urban renewal programme, with the civil servant – occupants being reallocated to alternative private properties through financial support provided by the State government.”
