BAYELSA STATE GOVT FLAYS MEDIA REPORT ON GHOST PROJECT
\n…VOWS TO LEGITIMATELY DEMAND FOR MORE POWER
\nSTATIONS TO BOOST SUPPLY
\nThe\u00a0Bayelsa State Government says no amount of blackmail from any section of the
\ncountry and the press will stop it from demanding a fair share of additional
\ntransmission stations to enhance electricity supply in the State.
\nThis\u00a0position was made known in a joint press statement issued by the State
\nCommissioner for Energy, Mr. Francis Ikio and Special Adviser to the Governor
\non Power, Engineer Olice Kemenanabo in Yenagoa.
\nApparently\u00a0reacting to reports in some sections of the media, titled \u201cInvestigation:
\nJonathan Seeks N1.8billion to Fund Ghost Project\u201d, the duo flayed the
\npublication as a mockery of journalism aimed at embarrassing President Goodluck
\nJonathan and abusing the collective sensibilities of the entire people of
\nBayelsa State.
\n\u201cThe\u00a0publication is to say the least insulting and aimed at embarrassing the
\nPresident in furtherance of the smear campaign orchestrated by a group of
\npersons.
\n\u201cIrrespective\u00a0of the President coming from Bayelsa State, we are not fools in Bayelsa not to
\nappreciate what we need and legitimately demand for it from the relevant
\nFederal Government agencies to address our inadequacies especially as it
\naffects the electricity infrastructure. The power needs of Bayelsa
\nState, according to our last comprehensive
\nload study, indicates far above 250MW, they stressed.
\nAccording\u00a0to the statement, the funds in question are not meant for any phantom project
\nbut actually targeted at upgrading the existing 40MVA at Gbarantoru in Yenagoa
\nLocal Government Area to connect the entire State.
\nIt\u00a0noted, \u201cBayelsa State as you all know was created on the 1st of
\nOctober 1996 and was depending on 2 x 20MW Gas Turbines in Kolo Creek which
\ncapacity was exceeded as far back as 2004 due to rapid load growth in the State
\ncapital alone.
\nIn\u00a02006, when the national grid eventually came, we felt a temporary relief but in
\nless than no time, the station could serve only parts of Yenagoa due to the
\ncapacity, which was not more than what we were generating from the
\npower station\u201d.
\nThe
\nstatement further pointed out that \u201cthe only 40MVA Transmission station is
\ngrossly inadequate and is under serious stress arising from overload even as
\nthe supply is limited to the State capital and few communities.
\nIndeed the station (Gbarantoru Transmission
\nStation) is at the brink of collapse and if urgent steps are not taken to
\nupgrade it, there is imminent total outage in the state.
\n\u201cTherefore,
\nif the Federal Ministry of Power in their wisdom is proposing the upgrade of
\nthe existing station to 90MVA, and a section of the media interprets it as Mr.
\nPresident seeking N1.8billion to fund ghost projects in his home State, is
\nunfortunate\u201d.
\nDismissingas untrue, the claims by the media outfit that officials of the Federal
\nMinistry of Power, who spoke to it on anonymity saying \u201cthat there is
\nno official documentation for the project\u201d, the Special
\nAdviser to the Bayelsa State Governor on power, Mr. Kemenanabo insisted that,
\nthe process leading to the approval of the project was well documented.
\nBrandishing
\na letter dated 22nd April, 2013 titled \u201cBayelsa State Power
\nSituation\u201d and addressed to the then permanent secretary of the federal
\nministry of power, Mr Kemenanabo maintained that the development was a product
\nof effective collaboration between the former and the Bayelsa State Government.
\nHis
\nwords, \u201cThat (claim) is not true. On the 22nd of April, 2013 before
\nthe present Permanent Secretary came in, there was a permanent secretary by
\nname Mrs Dere Awosika to whom we sent technical presentation explaining the
\nexact situation in the power system in Bayelsa State as it affects the only
\ntransmission station provided by the Federal Government since 2006.
\n\u201cIn
\nthat meeting, we agreed jointly that a technical committee comprising
\nstakeholders from Bayelsa State that was represented by the commissioner for
\nenergy, me and the Director of power in the Bayelsa State Ministry of Energy.
\nThen, on the Federal Government\u2019s side, we had a Director from the Rural
\nElectrification Agency, representatives of the Niger Delta Power Holding
\nCompany, representatives of Transmission Company of Nigeria and those from
\nFederal Ministry of Power,\u201d he said.
\nDaniel Iworiso-Markson
\nChief
\nPress Secretary to the Governor of Bayelsa State<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BAYELSA STATE GOVT FLAYS MEDIA REPORT ON GHOST PROJECT …VOWS TO LEGITIMATELY DEMAND FOR MORE POWER STATIONS TO BOOST SUPPLY The\u00a0Bayelsa State Government says no amount of blackmail from any…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n