From Chukwudi Chidiebere,
Port Harcourt
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has said that it will soon commission a 64-flats residential quarters and administrative block for security personnel in Rivers State.
Speaking while inspecting the residential quarters built for senior security personnel, the NDDC Interim Administrator, Mr. Efiong Akwa, stated that the project would add value to the living conditions of security officers posted to work in Rivers State.
He said that the NDDC was created for the purpose of intervening in the life of the people of the Niger Delta, stating that the project was a demonstration of the importance the commission attached to security in the Niger Delta region.
Akwa remarked: “We intervened in the housing sub-sector because we realized that when Federal Public Servants are transferred to Port Harcourt as the regional headquarters of the South-South region, housing was usually an issue. Some persons transferred to Rivers State would ask for enhanced housing allowances. Some will even refuse to come and because of that most of them were ineffective.
“To address this challenge, NDDC decided to intervene by providing houses for senior security officers to ensure that they are more effective in their duties to secure the environment, because if our environment is not secure, there would be no investment.”
The NDDC boss promised to clear all outstanding Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs), to enable the contractors to put finishing touches to the project. He gave the contractors three weeks to complete the finishing touches and hand over the project to the commission.
He said: “This investment is going to help in improving security in Rivers State, especially in the vicinity of the airport. It will surely enhance the security of the Port Harcourt International Airport and it will also add value to the economic and social life in the area.”
