Worried by the prevailing fuel scarcity and the difficulty of petroleum importers to access foreign exchange to facilitate their transactions, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, yesterday, recommended that oil-bearing states be encouraged to establish refineries to address the situation.
Already, the governor said arrangements had been concluded with some investors to establish two refineries with production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day in the state.
This, he said, would address the perennial scarcity of petroleum products just as the establishment of other private refineries would help stabilise market forces as well as end fuel importation.
Governor Emmanuel, at a Prayer Summit held at the Latter House Chapel, Government House, Uyo, said that the state government was working out modalities for the payment of severance allowances to political office holders in the local government areas across the state.
He also announced that inter-ministerial direct labour projects would soon commence and will be executed in phases in view of the prevailing economic circumstances.
He also directed the Head of Service, Mrs Ekerebong Akpan, to look into cases of civil servants due for promotion and promote them to their appropriate cadres, adding that despite the economic downturn, his administration has been able to pay salaries to its workers just as gratuities and other entitlements were being paid in batches.
The governor also advised pensioners to provide their biometric verification numbers to the Accountant General’s office for easy access to their benefits and restated his commitment to ensure that workers’ welfare was accorded its deserved attention.
