Makurdi – Gov. Samuel Ortom has appealed to the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to partner with the state government in addressing the infrastructural deficit in Benue state.
Ortom made the appeal on Monday in Makurdi, when he received the Benue branch executives of the NSE at the Benue People’s House, Makurdi.
He said that the state was in dire need of innovative ideas to improve infrastructure in the state.
The governor commended the engineers for their supportive role in the maintenance of existing infrastructure in the state and assured that his administration would engage them in building new ones, to avoid capital flight.
Ortom, who pledged to support the society in its efforts to establish a centre for the training of artisans in the state, lamented the declining federal allocations to the state in the face of mounting wage bills for its public sector employees.
He said his administration inherited a salary deficit of N69 billion, comprising gratuities and pensions.
The governor called on civil servants in the state to utilise proceeds from the bailout judiciously, warning that it was not a grant but a loan.
He disclosed that the state government was contemplating dry season farming as one of its alternative sources of revenue generation.
Speaking earlier, the chairman of the NSE in the state, Mr Msugh Orkor, commended the governor for choosing one of their own as the deputy governor of the state.
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Orkor said the society was ready to offer professional expertise to the governor in the area of infrastructural development and maintenance as its contribution to the development of the state.
He appealed to the governor to make land available to the society for the construction of its secretariat and a resource centre for the training of artisans in the state. (NAN)