The clamour by the people of Burutu Local Government Area and other stakeholders for the upgrade of the Delta State School of Marine Technology, Burutu, has been on for some time especially when the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa established three new universities situated in the three senatorial districts of the state.
Clearing doubts on the posture of his administration towards advancing the school to a degree-awarding status, Governor Okowa during the inauguration of projects executed by the Hon. Godknows Angele administration of Burutu Local Government Council said his government has begun the process of upgrading the school.
The Governor said the growth of the School of Marine Technology, Burutu, has been slowed down because it was previously under the State Ministry of Transport adding that as part of the first step aimed at upgrading the school, it has been moved from the Ministry of Transport to the Ministry of Higher Education.
While saying that a substantive Provost would soon be appointed for the institution, Governor Okowa assured the people that the state government was mobilising action for work on the permanent site of the school.
“I want reassure you that we are going to look into the various requests that you have made and that we will do our best possible.
“First of all, l must apologise that we have not taken much action on the School of Marine Technology but you would have realised that the school, in my opinion, has been slowed down from growth because it remains in the Ministry of Transport.
“But recently, we have moved it from the Ministry of Transport to the Ministry of Higher Education. That is a first step to upgrade the institution and we are committed about the school. Very soon, a substantive Provost will be appointed for the school,” he added.
Okowa applauded Hon. Angele for being very focused, adding that he was quite impressed that as the Burutu Council chairman he has not disappointed him.
The Governor praised Hon. Angele for the successful execution of the council’s legislators’ quarters, Head of Personnel Management (HPM) and Treasurer to Local Government (TLG) quarters, renovation of a health centre and the foundation laying of another one in Ogulagha.
“I pleaded with our leaders to allow Hon. Godknows Angele to become chairman of the local government council. I know that as l did that, l was putting a lot of burden on him.
“Our leaders agreed and l must thank them and the people of Burutu for allowing him to be the local government chairman. I am glad to see the things that l see here today.
“That he has a befitting legislative quarters which matters a lot to me. The reason why it matters is that it will enable our councillors to reside in Burutu at least for some part of the week.
“So that people will not continue to stay in Warri and Ughelli and rule over the affairs of this local government from elsewhere.
“That is very thoughtful of him and l am glad that he has quarters for the councillors, the Head of Personnel Management (HPM) and Treasurer to Local Government (TLG).
“l must thank you for this foresight and l thank you for the very good stories l have continued to hear about you from your people,” the governor said.
Chairman of the Council, Hon. Godknows Angele, said the legacy projects were embarked upon by his administration to provide shelter for councillors, HPM and the TLG in Burutu, the local government headquarters.
Angele said besides the legacy projects, there are other projects spread across the nooks and crannies of the local government area which are at various stages of completion, adding that when completed, they would be inaugurated for the benefit of the people in the area.
“To achieve further development, we need the cooperation of all and sundry. I, therefore, wish to appeal to everyone to please give this administration the much needed support in this second tenure,” the Chairman said.
While noting that apart from Kiagbodo town, no other town in the area is linked to the national grid, he said “we provide electricity supply to stimulate economic growth and encourage the development of small and medium scale enterprises.
“It cost my administration N6,000,000 monthly to fuel the two generators providing electricity to Burutu, headquarters of the local government area,” he added, even as he appealed to the governor to prevail on the relevant authorities to come to their aid by connecting Burutu to the national grid.
In an address presented by the Chairman of Burutu Community, Mr. Herman Ekisah, the people who applauded the landmark achievements of the governor in different parts of the state, appealed to him to change the status of the School of Marine Technology from monotechnic to polytechnic, even as they called for the appointment of a substantive Provost for the School as well as the development of the permanent site of the institution among other requests.
