Delta State Assembly Committee on Works and Special Projects has decried the present state of the Direct Labour Agency and promised to take steps to revive it.
The Committee, which has Hon Oboro Preyor as Chairman, gave the assurance at the maiden meeting of members with the interim management team of the Agency at the State Assembly Complex in Asaba.
Addressing the officials, Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Works and Special Projects, Oboro Preyor expressed concern over the ailing Direct Labour Agency and stressed the need to take steps to revive it.
Preyor who represents Bomadi Constituency in the House, recalled the time of Surveyor Terry Noah as the Director General of the Agency, emphasizing that the DLA should not be allowed to go into extinction.
The lawmaker explained that the DLA was the only interventionist Agency, established by an act of the Delta State House of Assembly to handle road maintenance and construction of smaller road infrastructure in the State.
Preyor stated that the DLA is same as FERMA at the federal level, saying that there was a time the Agency was almost like a parallel body with the State Ministry of Works.
He thereafter, directed the officials to as quickly as possible present to the Committee the exact cost to revive the Asphalt Plants and those obsolete Machineries that can be salvaged, especially the earth moving equipments.
He also asked for detail report of the staff strength of the Agency and their functions, saying that there was the need to know whether the Agency has the manpowers to handle projects.
The lawmaker said the Committee is not interested in auctioning any of the equipments, but to approach authorities, particularly the Governor of the State to restore the lost glories of the Direct Labour Agency.
Saying that the DLA was established to handle emergencies, Hon Preyor warned the officials against over bloated estimates on the repairs of the ailing facilities.
The lawmaker expressed the hope that someone with vision would be appointed the next Director General of the Agency, stressing that it is the right time to act in line with the MORE mantra of the Oborevrwori’s administration.
A member of the Committee, Hon Ferguson Onwo who expressed optimism towards reviving the Direct Labour Agency, emphasized that it is cheaper to maintain roads than allow it degenerate to the point that requires complete reconstruction.
Briefing the lawmakers, Acting Director General of the DLA, Engr Henry Emonena, said the Agency was a beehive of activities, before the set backs that plunged the it into the present state.
Emonena recalled a time when the then Governor of the State commissioned 50 road projects at a stretch, and regretted the lost of government patronage.
He disclosed that all the Asphalt Plants, located in Oghara, Agbara-Otor and Agbor were down due to incessant vandalism, but the present management was able to rehabilitate the one in Oghara recently.
The Acting DG said with the plants in Oghara functioning, the Agency can handle third party jobs.
He stated that only a very few of the machineries are working, but many of the ailing equipments, including Payloaders, Soil Compactors, Caterpillars, and Trucks, can be revived.
