From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
About 41,774 persons in Delta State are expected to benefit from grants as the state government step up efforts to mitigate the adverse economic impact of COVID-19, particularly on the poor and vulnerable.
The benefiaries would be under the Delta COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (D-CARES), a World Bank supported intervention with the main objective of expanding access to livelihood support and food security services as well as grants for poor and vulnerable households and firms.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa who flagged off the implementation of activities under Result Areas 1 and 2 of D-CARES in Asaba, pledged his administration’s commitment towards implementation of all aspects of the programme for the overall benefit of the people.
Giving the breakdown of the categories of people to benefit, Okowa said the programme will directly support 25,269 poor and vulnerable households with social transfers, basic services, and livelihood grants; 13,976 farmers to increase food production and facilitate smooth functioning of the food supply chain; while 2,529 MSEs will be given grants to support post-COVID-19 loans, operational costs and to enhance their IT capabilities.
“As we all know, the COVID-19 exerted a huge toll on the economy with the attendant loss of income and means of livelihoods by thousands of people.
“The CARES programme is to help mitigate the adverse economic impact of the pandemic, particularly on the poor and vulnerable.
“On September 28, last year, we gave operational support grants to 1,818 Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) under the Result Area 3 component of the programme.
“This administration is very committed to this programme because it complements and supports our various social intervention efforts,” he said.
He advised the programme managers to continue to display high performance and accountability levels required for seamless execution.
Okowa said successful implementation of the programme, especially given the wide scope of the intervention would go a long way in addressing some of the negative economic impacts of the pandemic on our people.
The governor advised beneficiaries to make good use of the opportunity to grow their businesses, increase their income, and generally improve their living standard.
Commissioner for Economic Planning, Dr Barry Pere-Gbe, said beneficiaries drawn from poor and vulnerable households were selected on merit and not through political colouration or ethnic cleavages and urged them to maximise the opportunity.
In their goodwill messages, stakeholders of the programme from the World Bank and other agencies lauded Governor Okowa for keying into the programme and affirmed that it will help to alleviate poverty.