The Ondo state government, on Thursday, announced the receipt of the N2bn out of the N5bn palliative approved by the Federal Government for each state of the federation to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.
The State Commissioner for Finance and the Chairman of the Palliative Strategy and Implementation Committee, Mr. Wale Akinterinwa, who disclosed this, said the state has also received 5,700 bags of rice from the Federal Government.
Akinterinwa, who led other committee members to inspect the food items and agricultural inputs, said the state will be distributing 12,000 bags of rice to the people of the state.
The Chairman of the Palliative Strategy and Implementation Committee said adequate security measures had been put in place to curb possible looting of the rice received by the state from the Federal Government.
The Finance Commissioner said a special Committee has also been set up to include all spectrums of the society and to avoid the distribution easier, saying this is not a political party affair.
His words: “We are here to inspect foodstuff that we intend to give to the vulnerable masses. We have gone around warehouses to ensure the foodstuff are in good condition. We will share them very soon.
“The Federal Government gave us 5700 bags of rice. The state has bought more than that. We will start sharing very soon. We put together a committee at the local government level.
“We have good representation that cuts across the spectrum of the society. We have gotten N2bn and hope they will give us the balance. They sent maize to us, but we received a small amount of maize, and we hoped to get the balance.
“The distribution will not be a party affair. That is why we put up the committee. We have the CAN and Muslim representatives.
“We will be distributing about 12,000 bags of rice. We are also giving out packaged food items besides the rice. The packaged food consists of four different local food items.
“The inputs for farmers are ready. We have power tillers, pesticides, and tricycles to help move farm harvests to cities.
“We hope it will tackle the food crisis and bring down prices if the yields are good. We have supported the farmers to get certain things they need.”
. TheWitness
