With the decision to embark on very ambitious and heavy cost involving capital projects in Bayelsa State, the governor, Senator Douye Diri, says he can beat his chest and attest a jinx breaking resolve to develop the state.
Diri, before getting into partisan politics for elective offices, was involved in the struggle for the development of the Ijaw nation under the platform of the Ijaw National Congress, INC.
He confirmed on Thursday, during an inspection tour of many projects sites in parts of the state, that his knowledge of the level of deprivation and underdevelopment of the state buoyed up his anger to face the development challenges of Bayelsa.
There have been parts of the state that have been inaccessible by road for ages. For example, nobody has ever driven into Oporoma, headquarters of the Southern/Ijaw Local Government Area of the state, by road.
But the road which would link the area is seriously under construction by Diri who inspected the progress of work on Thursday, where he found out that work on the Oporoma road with a 630-metre Angiama-Oporoma bridge is nearing completion. When completed, natives of that part of the state will be able to drive home for the first time.
The other projects inspected were the Otuan road, Eniwari road in Southern Ijaw LGA, the Polaku/Sabagreia link bridge in Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA as well as the 25,000-capacity stadium, Glory Drive Phase 3, the 9-storey secretariat complex and Road One of the New Yenagoa City linking the Amassoma-Airport road, all in Yenagoa LGA.
Speaking after the inspection, the governor said in a statement by his chief press secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, that “many do not understand where l am coming from. I was an Ijaw activist and so l am coming from a background of deprivation. The Ijaws are a people that had been deprived over the years and here l am having the opportunity to address some of these deprivation issues.
“So, l do not need anybody to tell me what to do because l was already aware of the level of deprivation in Ijaw land. This little opportunity that l have, l need to prove to our people that our government is taking the right steps in tackling these challenges. It is not enough to be shouting and criticising.”
At the Angiama-Oporoma bridge project handled by China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation (CCECC), Diri said government had met its contractual obligations by fully funding the project and commended the contractor for the progress achieved.
At the new stadium site at Igbogene, Diri also expressed satisfaction with the quality of work, stating that the project was at the foundation stage of pilling and sand-filling.
“The foundation is the most important aspect of this project. If you do not get the foundation right, then everything will collapse, particularly in a terrain like ours. You need very solid foundation.
“It follows that for a stadium project like this, you need to pile and do a lot of sand-filling. I am satisfied with what l have seen today. It is clear to me that even with the rains, work can still continue here.”
