By Jhon Oghojafor
Succour may soon come the way of contractors to the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) who have been owed various sums of money for the jobs they did for the state-owned oil commission.
The Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori stated this while addressing a cross section of aggrieved contractors under the aegis of DESOPADEC Indigenous Contractors Forum, who took their complaints to the House of Assembly recently.
According to the Speaker, the state government was not unaware of the plight of the contractors, adding that the situation was as a result of the dwindling resources of the government which has made it difficult for it to meet up with its financial obligations to the contractors. He assured that as soon as the revenue situation improves the state government would not hesitate to address the contractors’ problem among others.
Said he: “First of all, we must commend you for being peaceful. We have listened to your complaints. Your coming will spur us to ensure a timely intervention. The economy has not helped matters. We have not forgotten you. Your issue will be looked into. As things get better, your interest will be among those in the front burner of our decisions”,
Earlier, the leader of the forum, Comrade Francis Obule, said the protest became necessary following recent actions by banks regarding the properties we used as collateral for loans obtained to execute the contracts for the Commission.
While lamenting that for the past two years none of them had received payment for projects they executed, Comrade Obule said that; “Mr. Speaker, I know that you are a man with a large heart and you also have listening ears hence we came here today for you to address our plight. We know that you will not allow us to die”.
He added that; “We have only seen cases of selective payments. The interests for the loans we took are accruing. Even if some of us are paid today, accrued interest will wipe everything out. We have lost property and wives. Some of us are single parents. Our families are hungry. We are passing through pains. The banks are on our necks. Mr. Speaker, help us out of this situation. We are here to plead with you to prevail on the governor”.
