By Oghenero Orovwuje
The Delta State Government has set up Palliative Distribution Committee in furtherance of it’s commitment to the welfare of the citizens of the state and to cushion the effects of the hardship caused by the removal of petroleum subsidy in the country.
The Committee will handle the distribution of palliatives received from the Federal Government to be distributed to the less privileged; people living with disabilities, widows and the aged in the society.
According to a statement from the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Kingsley Emu, sub-committees at both the rural and urban ward level will also be setup with members drawn from the various wards (urban and rural) across the twenty-five Local Government Areas in the State.
He said a Local Government Monitoring Team will also be set up to monitor and coordinate the urban and rural wards in the LGA, while the State Subsidy Palliative Committee will oversee the entire process.
The rural and urban based Committee will include ward coordinators, ward councilors, representatives of traditional institutions in the wards, Presidents General or representatives of the communities/quarters in the wards, representatives of faith based organisations, representatives of orphanages/churches and trusted opinion leaders.
The Local Government Monitoring Team will be made up of LGA coordinators, Traditional rulers or their representatives, representatives of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and representatives of National Union of Local Government Employees.
While the state subsidy palliative committee is made up of the Secretary to State Government as Chairman, other members include the Principal Secretary to the Governor, Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Social and Girl Child Development, Senior Policy Adviser and Special Adviser Transport.
Other members are Special Adviser Community development, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture,members of the Secretariat and Mr Anthony Abua, Director Appraisal Services in the Office of the SSG would serve as Secretary.
In a meeting with the state subsidy palliative committee in his office, the SSG charged members to do their best to ensure that the palliatives to be distributed get to the target audience.