PDP: Building Infrastructure Without Providing Food Will Worsen Poverty

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has argued that infrastructure without food on the table has made the people of the state poorer and hungrier than they were before the coming of Governor Douye Diri’’s administration.

It also berated the alleged inability of the government to name any clear wealth creation, employment generation and poverty alleviation programmes, describing it as an admission of failure.

The PDP said despite increased revenues accruing to the state through improved derivation and enhanced federal allocations, the living conditions of many citizens have worsened, with hunger and poverty becoming daily realities across communities in the state.

The state government had dismissed the claims by PDP that Diri’s administration has failed to address hunger and poverty, insisting it has implemented wide-ranging programmes and projects aimed at improving residents’ welfare over the past six years.

Responding to the opposition’s criticism in a statement, the Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mrs. Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, described the allegations as misleading, saying the administration had made significant investments in infrastructure, education, healthcare, agriculture and youth empowerment.

But in a counter response at the weekend, the PDP insisted that the administration’s inability to name any clear wealth creation, employment generation and poverty alleviation programmes, was an admission of failure

The statement signed by Hon. Ikaebimo Mark, said blaming the APC-led federal government for hunger and poverty in Bayelsa State is, height of irresponsibility and disservice to President Bola Tinubu.

The spokesman described the government’s response as the height of insensitivity and evidence of the fact that the administration is completely disconnected from the realities confronting the indigent people and residents of Bayelsa State.

“Rather than address the critical issues of hunger, poverty, unemployment and the declining purchasing power of ordinary Bayelsans raised by the PDP, the government chose to display insensitivity by reeling out unverified infrastructure projects while blaming the hunger and poverty crisis in Bayelsa State on what it termed bad policies of the APC-led National Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“While roads, bridges, and public buildings are important, infrastructure without food on the table and money in the pocket cannot defeat hunger or lift people out of poverty,” the party stated.

The PDP maintained despite unprecedented revenues accruing to the state through statutory allocations and the 13 per cent derivation fund, it has not reflected on the people.

“The Party finds it curious that a government that has been in office for over six years still appears unable to point to any clearly defined and impactful wealth creation, employment generation, or poverty alleviation programme that has substantially improved the lives of the people.

“The inability of the government to identify such programmes in its response is, in itself, a tacit admission that the administration has fallen short of the expectations of Bayelsans in this critical area.

“The Party also considers it the height of irresponsibility for the state government to continue shifting the blame for hunger and poverty to the APC-led federal government while failing to account for the enormous resources accruing to Bayelsa State.

“Such a posture does a disservice to the renewed hope efforts of the federal government under President Tinubu to reposition the nation’s economy. Every tier of government must accept responsibility for the welfare of the people within its constitutional mandate. Bayelsans deserve solutions, not excuses,” it added.