Kaduna To Spend Subsidy Fund On Security, Agric

The Kaduna State Government said it would spend its allocation of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) on security and agriculture.

The Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Sa’idu Adamu, disclosed this to newsmen last week in Kaduna.

He was speaking after a special Executive Council meeting that deliberated on a report of the state Committee on Subsidy Reinvestment, headed by the Dep. Gov. of the state, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan.

Adamu said other sectors that had been identified for reinvestment included health, education, women and youth empowerment as well as the provision of infrastructure.

He said that a draft white paper on the utilisation of the fund submitted to the council was approved at the meeting.

“These are the aspects we intend to spend our own share of the revenue on. More details will be out when we roll out the programme,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Justice, Mr Kish Adamu, has said that some bills passed by the state House of Assembly had been assented to by Governor Patrick Yakowa.

Kish, told newsmen in Kaduna, that the bills included the Hotel Accommodation Levy Bill, Quality Assurance Bill and the Prerogative of Mercy Bill.

He also said that two per cent levy would be remitted to the state government per night for every customer from the services being provided by hotels and tourism establishments in the state.

According to him, the licencing of hotels and tourism establishments law has mandated the Ministry for Culture and Tourism to register and classify hotels in the state.

“It provides sanctions for any hotel that refuses to submit itself to be licenced. There will be a grace period for compliance in both laws,’’ he said.

According to him, defaulting hotels will pay a fine of N200,000 in addition to the sum due.

“Additionally, for every day that the offence continues, you will pay N10,000, and the hotel owner will be fined N50,000 or imprisonment for three months.

“For anybody who operates hotel for three months after the commencement of the law without complying with the requirement of the law, he would pay a fine of N100,000.

“And where the offence continued, he would pay a fine of N20,000 for everyday the offence continued. ‘’

On Quality Assurance law, Kish said the bill provided for the establishment of Quality Assurance Law Board to enhance quality of education,

According to him, the board will design a code of conduct and provide other details on the organisation of schools.

He said that the amended Prerogative of Mercy Act provided for the review of the membership of the state committee and other provisions to strengthen its effectiveness.

He explained that the penalty for breach of any regulation, would attract a fine of N10,000 and N5,000 for each day that the offence continued.

“They are strict penalties, we hope that nobody would fall foul of the law as we intend to strictly enforce compliance with the law,’’ he said.