Business
Rivers Lists Gains Of Security Votesj
The Rivers State Government says its massive investment in peace and security has opened up the state for investors.
Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs Ibim Semenitari who said this yesterday, in Port Harcourt, at the Niger Delta Citizens and Budget platform organised by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) SOCIAL Action also said that the government had never engaged in deficit budgeting.
Mrs Semenitari said that the government’s investment in security had led to the building of a modern Police College at Nonwa, training of some security personnel in Israel while government also collaborated with the Federal Government to buy surveillance helicopters.
The government, she said, would engage security experts from outside the country to help in the training of our security personnel, while bullet-proof vests and vehicles have been purchased for the security agencies in the state.
The commissioner noted that this situation had given rise to investible opportunities which many investors have been exploited, thereby making Rivers State an investment destination.
Meanwhile, Mrs Semenitari had said that the state government had never engaged in deficit budgeting contrary to speculations in some quarters.
She said that the difficulties witnessed in the implementation of previous budgets was due to shortfall in federation allocations to the state.
She said that the government had maintained a transparent and open process in procurement, expressing that this situation had led the World Bank to acknowledge that the state has the best model in procurement process that should be adopted by others States in the country.
Earlier, the coordinator of Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platform and Project coordinator, Social Action , Mr Ken Henshaw said that the group was happy with the state government for the giant strides in health and primary education and stressed the need for the feat to be replicated in the higher education sector.
Mr Henshaw also called for more emphasis on internal revenue generation.