THE immediate past Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in Bayelsa State and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, Kemela Okara, has said that youth hostilities and national economic recession hampered the Bayelsa Oil and Industrial Park project proposed the outgoing governor, Honourable Seriake Dickson.
Okara, who was the state commissioner for trade, Industry and investment at the time the project was approved in 2015, said that the state at that time was paying the backlog of salaries of civil servants rather than funding the project.
He said the project, sited on a 50-hectare land in Gbarain Kingdom of Yenagoa Local Government Area, required N2 billion alone for sandfilling, explaining that at the time, the state could afford the said sum.
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Speaking during a media chat held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in Yenagoa, the former SSG said acts of hostility and militancy perpetrated by restive youths also discouraged investors who were willing to provide the funds needed to kick-start the project.
He said if voted into office come November 16, 2019, his priority would be the creation of jobs, particularly on a large scale, through industrialisation of the state.
He further explained that six months into office, he would tackle the issue of insecurity which had been militating against the development of the state.
He said: “Industrialisation is the only way to create jobs for the people of Bayelsa on a large scale. The high rate of unemployment among youths poses a big security challenge to our state. And I want to tackle it.
“While I was serving as commissioner for trade, industry and investment, I designed the Bayelsa Industrial Park Project. First, we did a masterplan which is a fundamental qualification for building an industry. The essence was to create the right environment that can attract industrialists that would bring industries to us. But to achieve this, we had to sandfill the site which was valued at N2 billion.
“But as you all know, it was that same period that economic recession hit the country hard. At that time, we had the option of paying civil servants salaries or funding the project. So, as a government that was responsible to the people, we paid salaries and left the project.”
“Another problem was the high rate of hostility perpetrated by young Bayelsans. This drove investors away from the state. The truth is, if you are hostile to investors, they have options because Bayelsa is not the only state that has gas and crude oil,” he argued.