Paul Osuyi, Asaba
About 179 vulnerable households across the 270 wards in the 25 local government areas of Delta State are expected to benefit from palliatives donated by the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID).
The targeted beneficiaries will be given one 10kg bag of rice, 10kg bag of gari, one carton of pasta, two cartons of noodles, one 5kg bag of sugar and one pack of salt each, according to the Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties, Mofe Pirah, who spoke at the flag-off of the distribution exercise.
Pirah said committees have been set up at various levels for the purpose of effective distribution to the targeted households, and said the exercise will be devoid of political influence.
“CACOVID believes if you can afford to recharge your phone with N1,000 in a month then you are not vulnerable.
“They also believe that for you to be part of this exercise, you should either have a national identity card or voter’s card for verification.
“Although some of the targeted beneficiaries are in the remote villages and do not even have phones, their community leaders know how to identify them and so, the state government has warned the exercise must be devoid of politics,” he said.
Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, on his part, re-assured that modalities were in place to ensure the items got to targeted beneficiaries.
Aniagwu called on well-meaning individuals to emulate the gesture of the Central Bank of Nigeria in conjunction with some other business concerns that provided the palliatives to support efforts of the state government to make life more meaningful for the people.
He said following prevailing economic situation in the country, the state government took the decision to reverse salaries of workers and political appointees to status quo to cushion the adverse effects of the hike in petrol price and electricity tariff.
Aniagwu said the present administration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa remained sensitive and responsive to the yearnings of Deltans.