The ground breaking ceremony to signal commencement of work at the Warri Industrial Business Park would take place in the second quarter of this year, the Chairman of the Delta State Economic Advisory team, Bismark Rewane has said.
Addressing journalists shortly after a meeting of the team in Lagos, which had Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in attendance, Rewane stated that all arrangements have been put in place to ensure the commencement of work at the park.
He disclosed that the location of the park has made it such that a lot of economic activities would take place at the area in line with the Delta Beyond Oil policy of the Uduaghan administration.
He observed that Uduaghan administration has about two and half years to go and as such all hands must be on deck to ensure that his vision of positioning the state for prosperous years beyond oil was achieved.
Rewane who was flanked by the Commissioner for Information, Barrister Chike Ogeah, and his Economic Planning counterpart, Kenneth Okpara, threw light on the outcome of the meeting.
He said: “The meeting was very constructive.
“We evaluated where we stand and we are satisfied that the team is working hard to achieve our goals.
“The concept of Delta Beyond Oil is something that remains solid in our vision and we shall plan and execute projects to achieve such.
“The ground breaking ceremony for the Warri Industrial Business Park would take place by the second quarter of this year.”
Rewane stated that the WIBP, which has the potential to create 50,000 jobs within five years, is a massive investment that “involves a significant commitment from the government and the private sector.”
He said telecommunications, office blocks, industries, among others would be at the park.
“I can assure you that we will have a power plant, we will have a broadband internet access, we are close to the Warri port and have access roads to the park,” Rewane stated.
He said efforts were also on to ensure that moribund companies in the state are revived to boost employment and economic activities.
On how to revive the ailing companies, Rewane said: “It is a long term strategy and know too that the companies belong to private individuals, but what we are doing is to encourage them to open up their business by providing infrastructure.”
He assured Deltans that most of the projects being executed by Uduahgan’s administration would be completed before the end of his tenure.
He said the few that would not be completed “must have gotten to a point of irreversibility because we are looking at Delta State’s interest in perpetuity.”
In her remarks, the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Evelyn Oputu, who is also, a member of the Advisory Team, said her bank was working closely with the Delta State Government because the state “has a lot of comparative advantage for industrialization.”
Among those who attended the meeting were the Chairman of ThisDAY newspapers, Nduka Obaigbena; and the state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Kingsley Eze Emu.
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