AC flays Bayelsa for hosting post-amnesty summit

By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—The Action Congress in Bayelsa State yesterday flayed the state government for sponsoring a post-amnesty summit in Kaduna when the state was bereft of potable water and other basic amenities for the people.

The party noted that virtually all ongoing construction works in the state have grounded to a halt, citing the airport project along the East-West road which had been taken over by flood and the Five Star hotel in the heart of Yenagoa, now abandoned, while residents could not boast of potable water in a state surrounded by water.

Secretary of Action Congress in Bayelsa State, Mr. Ebikibina Miriki, while reacting to the post amnesty summit in Kaduna, noted with sadness that while the state was grappling with the early payment of workers’ salary and non-payment of contractors due to the recent fall in the state allocation, the state government could sponsor a jamboree in far away Kaduna, tagged post- amnesty summit.

The fund expended in organizing the summit and logistics for Bayelsa government functionaries to the event, the party lamented, could have been used in upgrading some of the dilapidated infrastructure in some of the neglected communities, most of which are lacking in basic amenities.

“We have no business lamenting the sad situation on ground if only our leaders had done the right thing. 13 years after the creation of Bayelsa, the people are still struggling to get potable water. Go round our communities and you will weep for our existing health centres which are in deplorable state.

“Our educational sector is nothing to write home about, coupled with the high level of unemployment and poverty in the land, yet our government could go to far away Kaduna to organise post-amnesty summit,” he lamented.

According to him, “only a sincerity of purpose, backed by a visionary leadership, will actualize the yearnings and aspiration of the people.”

He said the PDP led administration in the state has failed the people and had nothing new to offer the state.