12 July 2009
Lagos — Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has disclosed that the state government has so far created about 156,779 jobs in the last six months.
Fashola, who spoke at the end of the mid-year budget review session, said about 6,114 people made up of health and education workers at the lower levels have been employed into the public service directly.
Fashola also informed that the state has created another 52,685 jobs in terms of direct employment of people who are not in the public service, from so many activities ranging from field training, micro credit finance and business support.
He added that such people are in turn also employing so many other graduates especially those in the grassroots who have just come out of school and are looking for employment.
"In terms of indirect jobs, as at June this year ,we have over 98,000 people working at the various construction sites as sub contractors, employees to people who have taken main contracts from us in building schools, hospitals, roads, drainages, bridges, cleaning up the city and participating in our PSP programmes. So, I think not only on the macro level has the budget done well, it has also done well in the micro level by creating jobs and putting food on people's tables," he said.
The governor also assessed the half year performance of the state's 2009 budget declaring that it posted an impressive performance of 68 per cent and very encouraging result in job creation.
"We posted a performance half year of 68 per cent which is a slight increase against our first quarter performance. In terms of performance between this period last year and this year, there has been an increase of four per cent.
"When you look at this performance against a difficult economic terrain. I think our government has done very well. We have also taken a look at the impact, especially against the backdrop of the thrust of the budget which is on poverty alleviation and economic growth through our infrastructural renewal programme," he said.
On the issue of flooding, the Governor reiterated that Lagos is by location a coastal state, which no one made home by choice but by the fact of the environment inhabited by forebears.
He added that while some chose to live near the desert, some chose the rocks, adding: "therefore each part of the world where you choose to live has its own responses and hazards of nature, nobody can stop the rains. It will fall".
He explained that drains built here or anywhere in the world were not built to hold water but help direct water to the ultimate destination for evacuation, which are the creeks, lagoons and oceans.
He added that over the years, the whole world has been alerted on the challenges of climate change and global warming and rising water level due to the large bodies of ice melting across the world.
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