RSG Sets Up Road Decongestion Task Force

Rivers State Government, says it has set up a Joint civilian and military Taskforce to decongest the roads in Port Harcourt and its environs by towing vehicles parked wrongly on the roads.

Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi disclosed this Saturday while speaking at the sixth Synod of the New Generation Faith Anglican Church, Diobu, Port Harcourt West Archdeaconry, with the theme: “The Caring Church”.

Amaechi said the taskforce which is made up of military personnel, police and other officials of the state, would remove cars wrongly parked and charge their owners fines, while churches whose members park along the road would pay specific amount of money to the state, since the Churches have not provided parking spaces for their members.

The governor explained that the taskforce would commence work immediately after the Sports Festival and would be paid 10 per cent of the fines paid on number of cars impounded, noting that the government would ensure that laws were obeyed.

He observed that the Creek Road market traders and the Mile III market traders had converted Creek Road and Bishop Okoye Street to markets, warning that the state government would compel the traders to either go into the market or vacate the roads.

Governor Amaechi described indiscipline and lawlessness as the greatest problem of Nigerians, stressing that the state government was determined to provide adequate security for lives and property in the state, for according to him, security remains the key to development in any society.

The governor said the state government in collaboration with the security agencies had installed security cameras at strategic locations in the state to monitor crime, emphasising that  the key to development of Rivers State was security, adding that culprits in about 80 per cent of kidnap cases in the state had been arrested by security agents via the use of electronic camera devices.

On power, the State Chief Executive explained that the state generates enough power, and with the permission of the Federal Government, the state had inaugurated a committee to handle the distribution of power supply, hoping that before the end of 2012, Rivers State might have 24 hours electricity supply.

He noted that in the course of governance, it was difficult to satisfy everybody, insisting that the present state government was working assiduously to deliver quality service to the people of the state, adding that those affected by flood would have government intervention, while warning residents of the state against building on water channels.

Earlier, in his address, the Arch Bishop, Province of Niger Delta, Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey, lauded the state governor for his outstanding performance in security and education, which earned the state the best prize in primary education.

Arch Bishop Kattey also commended Governor Amaechi for his transparency in governance, and for improving dramatically physical structures, socio-economic, environmental and the transport system in a bid to lay a solid foundation for the future, and expressed confidence that he would sustain the tempo in the second term.

Rivers State Governor, Rt.Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (left) in a hand shake with Pastor George Izunwa, during a mid-year thanksgiving and ordination service at Gate Way International Church in Port Harcourt.