Samuel Oyadongha
10 October 2008
Bayelsa State Commissioner for Finance and Budget, Dr. Silva Opuala-Charles, says the state is pursuing a four point strategy for creating resources needed to drive the state's development process.
These are Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), earnings or returns from the state's investments, donor funding and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) the commissioner said, adding that the administration of Governor Sylva is not shopping for a $10bilion loan as reported by a section of the media.
Dr Opuala-Charles in interview in Yenagoa said the strategy would boost the revenue profile of the state to enable government in its sustainable development drive.
According to him, there were a lot of major on-going and proposed projects that would move the state to an appreciable level of development such as the 500 bed Yenagoa General Hospital, the High Court Complex, the millennium park, three luxury hotels, the Yenagoa jetty, the three senatorial district roads, the Yenagoa Central Business District among others.
He explained that the projects were capital intensive noting however that with the four point strategy in place, the funds needed to execute them would be raised.
The commissioner who added that the state government can gain N3 for every N1 invested through the PPP initiative however expressed disappointment with some sections of the media over what he described as "deliberate misinterpretation" of his address at an interactive forum with banks and contractors a few weeks ago.
His words, "The administration of Governor Sylva is sensitive to the yearnings of Bayelsa people and will not make any attempt to go for $10b loan.
"For the purpose of correcting the deliberate falsehood being dished out to members of the public by some media practitioners, I want to emphasize that the state government is not shopping for $10billion.
"The state government intends raising funds through the four point strategy I earlier mentioned."
Also already established, according to him, are the Public Private Partnerships office in the Ministry of Finance and a Debt Management office in an extra-ministerial status.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
