By Ogenyi Ogenyi Uyo
Stakeholders have called on the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to reduce the number of new projects inorder to enable it complete ongoing ones.
They have also stressed the need for the Commission to strike a balance between meeting political demands and serving the people of the region by executing people centric projects
This is contained in a communique issued on Wednesday at the end of a three day workshop of Partners for Sustainable Developement,PSD, organised by the NDDC for Stakeholders on the 2024 budget held in Uyo.
The communique noted the strategic importance of the PSD forum in the budgetary process, aimed at eliminating duplications and institutional suspicions, reducing the incidence of working at cross purposes as well as reduce wastage of scarce resources allocated for regional development.
It commended the management committee of the NDDC for resuscitating the PSD Forum, which was last held in 2016 but advised the commission to operate a lean budget that would enable her to commence and complete projects within a certain and realistic budget cycle.
“The budget of the Commission should also have a spread to cover the several ethnic nationalities and communities in Region.
“For the 2025 Budget, less of new projects should be captured in order to ensure the quick completion of all ongoing projects under the 2024 budget.
“The timeline for payment of contractors should not exceed 45 days, allowing for 15 days buffer after which penalties will accrue for non-payment of contractors.
“That a town hall meeting and engagement of the several ethnic nationalities of the region be convoked prior to budget sessions. This is to ensure that the budget receives inputs from the people directly.” It said.
It called for the removal of completed projects from the budget to allow for more new projects and made a case for provisions for flood control measures in the 2024 Budget under regional provision, as well as provision of IDP camps in the LGAs of the region for flood impact reduction.
“To ensure equity amongst all the LGAs regarding the 2024 budget, the Commission should identify deserving ongoing projects with significant completion status and where the funds committed to such projects are insufficient, funds may be drawn from the legacy debt to argument.” The communique stated.
