Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
News  

Governor’s aide explains why Benue government adopted PPP

By Joseph Wantu Makurdi
26 August 2015   |   12:14 am
SPECIAL Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom on Economy and Investment, Mr. Ben Melladu, has said the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) and Public Private Partnership (PPP) policies adopted by the present Benue State Government would create massive employment as well as boost economic activities in the state.
Benue state

Benue state

SPECIAL Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom on Economy and Investment, Mr. Ben Melladu, has said the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) and Public Private Partnership (PPP) policies adopted by the present Benue State Government would create massive employment as well as boost economic activities in the state.

Melladu, while making this clarification in an interview with The Guardian in Makurdi, stressed that with the current economic realities where funds are not readily available, there is need to co-opt the private sector to assist government in bringing development in some areas.

He revealed that the administration has already set in motion interaction with private investors most of whom are willing to make their investments in the state.

On plans to ensure take off of the new Makurdi International Market, the governor’s aide said as a former commissioner who initiated the market, it was sad to know that the people cannot occupy the place up to this moment.

“The Makurdi International Market was supposed to be completed at the cost of N1.7 billion but I learnt that after I left office as Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, increments were made and the market ended up being constructed at about N3 billion,” he disclosed.

Melladu said the high cost of construction and the high price tag per shop have made it difficult for an average Benue man to acquire them.

The former commissioner noted that in a short while the Ortom administration would be looking into the issue to enable citizens of the state move into the market to make it operational, so that government too will have returns on the investments.

Melladu, who expressed worry over the poor drainage systems in most of the markets in the state capital in Wadata and Wurukum, further lamented the resultant destruction of traders’ goods worth millions of naira.

0 Comments