From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa Development Initiative (BDI) has described Governor Douye Diri’s 2024 budget as a rehash of similar past documents that lacks capacity to develop the state.
BDI said after studying the document, there was nothing to celebrate as it remained a repetition of old budgets with high increase in recurrent expenditure to satisfy the huge appetite of the ruling class at the detriment of the state and the people’s development.
The group in a statement at the weekend by its Secretary, Michael Sam-Rodamini, said a budget whose recurrent expenditure of N212.7bn was higher than the capital expenditure of N176.6bn was not a progressive document.
According to him, capital expenditure was necessary to break the shackles of poverty, hunger and underdevelopment of the state.
“The 2024 Budget is simply a rehash of similar past documents with the same sub-heads. The only difference is that old figures were changed and adjusted to higher ones. It is not a product of any deep thinking and serious research to reflect the new realities and challenges of the people”, he said.
The group argued that Bayelsa was in dire need of quality capital projects such as roads, bridges, water among others and required a budget that would ambitiously cut the astronomically high cost of running government contained in Diri’s 2024 budget.
BDI said while a whooping N39.4bn was budgeted for the governor’s office and N7bn for Government House, the entire Ministry of Water Resources got only N1.7bn.
The statement read in part,”The masses of Bayelsa will continue to buy water from vendors popularly called ‘meruwa’. With such a paltry sum of money budgeted for the ministry of water resources, it means that the government has no plan to embark on the much-needed water reticulation project to connect Bayelsa homes to pipe borne water. This government is not ready to do anything that will benefit the people.”
BDI wondered the kind of work the Finance Ministry was expected to do for Bayelsa that a whooping N60bn was allocated to it while the Ministry of Agriculture, which was supposed to be the focus of any serious government, had only N14bn.
“This is evidence that Diri’s government has no plan to develop the agricultural sector, which is supposed to play a crucial role in addressing hunger to ensure food security, enhance the standard of living and promote the economy. Bayelsa’s agricultural potential will remain untapped in this government.”