Monorail: RSG To Compensate Property Owners

The Rivers State Government has said that compensation will be fully paid for all properties that will be demolished in the cause of expansion of the Monorail Project, which will now be extended from UTC Junction to Aba road

Commissioner for Budget, Gogo Levi Jack who gave this indication while briefing the press in Port Harcourt, Thursday, on the 2012 budget, said that the state government  was committed to the Monorail Project, which he said will stand Rivers  State out from other states of the federation on transportation.

The budget commissioner, who was briefing Journalists in company of the Commissioner for Information  and Communication, Mrs Ibim Semenitari said  that experts have surveyed the project and the route to take, but  debunked the rumour that the Hotel Presidential building would be affected by the extention exercise.

Jack explained that government adopted the Public Private Partnership (PPP) strategy for development, but that the private partners have shown reluctance in releasing fund but that government will not wait for them.

He gave the total figure for the 2012 budget as N438 billion, as against the N427 billion that was sent to the State House of Assembly, which added N11 billion to it, adding that N261 billion will come from federal account, while N63 billion and N100 billion will come from Internal Revenue and Loans respectively.

On her part, the Commissioner of Information and Communication, Ibim Seminatari said that water is a major challenge to government, and that the state will partner with the World Bank to address the matter, adding that preliminary work has already commenced in that regard.

She said that government backed out of the PPP arrangement on monorail due to reluntance of partners to release funds, adding that the administration was focusing on agriculture for employment generation.

Corlins Walter