January 19, (THEWILL) – The Bayelsa State Government has pledged to build more residential quarters to open up the New Yenagoa City to meet the growing accommodation needs of the state.
The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made this known when the state chapter of the Law Officers Association of Nigeria (LOAN), a professional body of legal practitioners in the employment of government, paid him a courtesy visit at his office in Yenagoa.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo said the government was currently building new residential quarters for commissioners and House of Assembly members at the New Yenagoa City layout, adding that more of such quarters would be built for other top government functionaries and civil servants in the state.
Responding to some of the requests of the Association, Senator Ewhrudjakpo assured them that the government would look into the backlog of rent subsidy, unpaid conference fees, and grants for cars by clearing them in instalments.
On the issue of payment of legal practising fees for the year 2024, the Deputy Governor directed the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Biriyai Dambo (SAN), to quickly raise a memo for the payment before the expiration of the deadline in March.
Speaking on behalf of the LOAN, the State Chairman, Mr. Maxwell Ishiusah, enumerated the non-release of statutory benefits such as rent subsidy, conference fees and car grants as challenges the law officers in the state are being confronted with.
In another development, the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has said the present administration was doing its best to market Bayelsa on the platform of sports.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo stated this when he granted an audience to the President and members of the Bayelsa State Elite Table Tennis Club International in Government House, Yenagoa.
According to him, sports provide a good platform to change the bad image being given to the state, hence the government is sparing no effort to change the narrative using sports as an effective tool to achieve the goal.
The Deputy Governor, who gave a pass mark to the Bayelsa Elite Table Tennis Club for defeating their counterparts from Rivers and Delta States, gave an assurance that the government would support the training of two of its coaches and equally support their proposed trip to engage their counterparts in Lagos State by April.
His words, “Bayelsa’s battered image has to be improved. What you are doing is improving the public image and reputation of the state. You are playing to change the image of Bayelsa State.
“We are doing our best to change the narrative. We are marketing our state on the platform of sports.
“We will encourage the training of the coaches as you have canvassed. The government will also render support for your Lagos tour within available resources.”
In their separate remarks, the Majority Leader of the House, Rt Hon Monday Edwin Obolo, who is a member of the tennis club, and the President, Mr Zibs Tonbra, thanked the Deputy Governor for always rendering support to the club, even at very short notice.
While applauding the government’s relentless efforts at sports development, they appealed for the training of two indigenous table tennis coaches abroad and support for their upcoming tour to Lagos State for an elite table tennis competition in April 2024.
