Edith CHUKU
The Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, has assured that more rural communities in the oil rich Niger Delta region would benefit from the ongoing solar lights installation by the Commission.
The Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, gave this assurance while responding to questions from newsmen in Port Harcourt.
Ogbuku revealed that the solar lights installation project had commenced in some state capitals and towns, even as he emphasized the need to extend the project to villages across the region.
His word, “we plan to include all the state capitals, the LGA headquarters, the towns and all villages under the commission in our new scheme to light up the rural areas in our states in the country.
“The Commission has what it takes to install and maintain the solar system in the various towns and villages under its control.
“The Niger Delta region is rich in oil, gas and several other mineral resources. Nonetheless, the people live in difficult terrain that needs to be tamed. The only way the commission can appreciate, assist and encourage the people of the Niger Delta is to bring development as well as infrastructure nearer to them.
“The commission will do everything within its mandate to deliver infrastructure while the communities would take the responsibility of protecting the projects sited in their midst.
“We have what it takes to install and maintain the solar system and other projects in our states but we don’t have what it takes to protect or safeguard them in the various communities where we site them, because that was not in our budget.
“We expect them to form vigilante groups and Community Development Committees to ensure that such projects sited in their communities get protected from vandals and destruction.”
