By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Federal Government has appealed to residents of Matari, Soba Local Government Area, Kaduna State to cooperate with contractors handling the reactivation of the dam in the community.
The call was made during Pre-Project Sensitization and Awareness Creation organized by the Ecological Fund Office (EFO) to drum support for contractors handling the project.
In her speech at the ocassion, the Permanent Secretary, EFO, Dr. Habiba Lawal stated that the event was to bring together the contractors, consultants and the benefitting communities with a view to having a peaceful reactivation.
Mrs. Esther Kolade who represented the Permanent Secretary, noted that the Federal Government would not want any delay occasioned by controversies between the contractors and the host communities.
She emphasised the need for peaceful and rancor free environment to enable contractors deliver timely and quality projects for the benefit of the community.
Dr .Lawal revealed that some communities make demands on contractors while others dictated the way projects should be executed which may cause disputes and also slow down the pace of work. She advised that
genuine and legitimate demands including complaints on the performance of any contractor should be channeled through community heads/traditional rulers, who would in turn forward same to EFO rather than resorting to violence that would stop the progress of work.
Lawal reiterated the Federal Government’s Commitment to addressing critical ecological challenges across the country to forestall environmental degradation, loss of lives and properties. She appealed to the Local Government Leaders, Royal fathers, Youth and Religious leaders to prevail on their people to support and cooperate with Government to serve them better.
In his remarks, the Soba Local Government Chairman Hon. Mohammed Mahmmud Makama on behalf of Matari community commended the Federal Government for the laudable project brought to them. He noted that Soba community was a peaceful place that welcome development and pledged support for contractors as well as a violence-free environment to ensure a speedy
completion of the project.
The Chairman revealed that the ongoing project was one of the few projects forwarded to the Federal Government through Ecological Fund Office for intervention. He also disclosed that Min. of Agric was working towards establishing Solar Energy System, build bridges and road in the community.
