Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ifeanyi Okowa, has urged contractors handling projects on facilities for 21st National Sports Festival being hosted by the state to redouble their efforts and meet completion deadline.
Okowa made the call on Thursday while speaking with newsmen after inspecting ongoing projects at Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba.
He said that the festival would hold from Nov. 28 to Dec. 10, 2022, and urged the contractors to speed up work and deliver the projects before Nov. 18.
According to the Governor, “I have gone round and I am worried. I would urge the contractors to move much faster than they are at the moment because there is a date for the festival already.”
He, however, stated that the contractors had reassured him that by the 18th of November, they would be out of the place, adding “so, I am going to hold them to their word.
“I expect the local organising committee to give me daily reports on their progress and ensure that they meet the time.
“We cannot afford to move the sports festival further because as you move, you will be moving it into Christmas period which is not a good time to travel.”
He expressed satisfaction with the quality of work, but insisted that the contractors must apply more speed to ensure prompt completion.
“The work being done is good, all I ask is that they add speed to it. I am told that they work day and night now. I hope that yields result and take us through the finishing of the project by the 18th of November,” he stated.
On team Delta’s preparation for the sports festival, Governor Okowa said that the state was always prepared and would continue to emerge champions.
“We are ever prepared and we have always won and we will still win again, so we are not worried about that,” Okowa added.
The governor once again used the opportunity to sympathise with flood victims across the state and country and urged federal government to provide permanent solution to the annual disaster.
“I use this opportunity to once again sympathise with the families affected by the flooding. I visited those who are in camps yesterday and the day before.
“We have eleven camps set up by the state government. I was able to visit seven of them between Tuesday and Wednesday. We will continue to encourage them.
“We know that there is a lot of loss. It has created a major challenge for them and as a country we must prioritise the things we ought to do, to prevent the level of flood that we have and start to do them as a nation,” he stated.
