Labour seeks resuscitation of Delta steel, others on October 07, 2014 / in Sweet Crude 8:28 pm / Comments Victor AHIUMA-YOUNG Delta State Council of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has called on the state government to resuscitate some of the ailing industries in the state including the Delta Steel Company, DSC, Ovwian Aladja, to boost employment generation. In an interview with Sweetcrude, the Chairman of the state NLC, Comrade Williams Akporeha, named some other companies to include African Timber and Plywood, AT&P;, Sapele, Asaba Textile Mill, Asaba; Delta Glass, Ughelli; and Bendel Steel Structure, Enerhen and a host of others. He lamented that these companies when they were functional, provided direct mass employment and engaged service providers beyond the state, saying, “At the moment, Congress is seeking the attention of government to a number of unresolved issues. In particular, Congress is very worried that government seems to have reneged on its determination to clear the backlog of unpaid pension benefits to retirees through a monthly release of N1.5billion from internally generated revenue. So, as I speak with you, unpaid pensions in the state are pilling while retirees are groaning beneath. I used the phrase ‘Congress is very worried’ because of the great danger the situation portends not only for retirees but also the state workforce. Naturally, workers dread looking forward to bleak retirements, so while we struggle to reduce the sufferings of our present retirees, we fear for the state of mind of those who are still in service. The inherent fear factor being the knowledge of the sufferings ahead and this can demoralize a worker. As we all know, a demoralised worker is directly proportional to diminishing productivity at the expense of the state. So, I use this opportunity to again appeal to government to give priority to offsetting pensions backlog and secure the future of would-be retirees in the state. “I want to also identify mass unemployment as one major concern of Congress in Delta state. At every opportunity, Congress has always encouraged government to explore the full advantage of the Public Private Partnership, PPP, provisions to create the enabling environment that will endear investors to the state which is also in tandem with the administration’s programme to nurture ‘Delta State Beyond Oil’ to generate employment and wealth creation avenues for our youth. I believe it is within the purview of the State Ministry of Commerce and Industry to device means of extensive awareness creation to promote the economic potentials of the abundant natural resources such as rubber and timber as well as coconut trees along the shorelines within the state to woo investors. Akopreha further said, “A sincere commitment to the pursuit of the Public Private Partnership is fundamental to the realization of the objectives of the Delta Beyond Oil initiative, while relieving the burden of youth unemployment from the government at the same time. While I commend the achievements of the state micro credit scheme, I must not fail to say that it is time to expand the scheme through the Public Private Partnership initiative. The current structure of the scheme is largely tied to the operative principles of Cooperative Society. But even at that, Congress is desirous to see the establishment of cottage industries in the state by these cooperatives to expand wealth and employment creation. “In addition, Congress has also drawn the attention of government to the need to resuscitate some of the ailing industries in the state to assist/tackle unemployment. I can tell you that Deltans are really eager to see this productive aspect of the state come alive again. However, where intervention or outright take over by government is constrained due to ownership and shareholders liquidity, government can extend tax rebates and other such incentives to facilitate revival.” - See more at: vanguardngr/2014/10/labour-seeks-resuscitation-delta-steel-others/#sthash.hTkcxxWs.dpuf
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 02:47:07 +0000
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