Bayelsa Bothered Over Public Misinformation

The Bayelsa government said on Friday it was worried by the lack of adequate information about its programmes on the part of the citizens.

The Commissioner for Works and Transport, Mr Emmanuel Frank-Opigo, said in Yenagoa, that this development had given rise to negative perception of the government in some quarters.

Receiving the members of the Corporate Affairs Committee of the NUJ, Bayelsa chapter, Frank-Opigo said it was regrettable that  some people were peddling rumours about the administration of Governor  Timipre Sylva.

He said the negative write-ups in the national media were unfair to the people and the state government.

The commissioner attributed the sad development to what he called “information gap and the lack of in-depth information of the state government policies and activities on the part of the people.”

“This government has really suffered negative reportage of its policies because of a lacuna created by the people’s lack of in-depth information.”

He insisted that the state had made significant strides in its development progranmmes.

Frank-Opigo said the Sylva-led administration had completed some of the projects embarked upon by his predecessors, listing them to include the new Government House and some internal road networks in the state capital.

He urged the people, especially journalists, to always investigate information at their disposal instead of commenting on matters in which they lacked adequate information.

“Most write-ups are either biased, misinformed or better still mischievous,” he said, pointing out that the state government was committed to developing the state “even with its dwindling resources”.

Earlier, the NUJ Chairman and leader of the delegation, Mr Piriye Kiyaramo, had informed the commissioner that the committee sought to partner with stakeholders in identifying the various developmental challenges facing the state.

“We at the NUJ felt that the union should not just sit on the fence, but rather see how we can complement the state government’s effort in the implementation of programmes and policies that will transform the socio-economic status of the state,” he said.