The governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa says following the challenges posed by the coronavirus on global economy, his administration has concluded plans to reduce the 2020 budget to meet current economic realities.
Dr Okowa stated this at “The Platform”, an Annual Workers’ Day programme of the Covenant Christian Centre, dedicated to Nigeria’s Battle Against COVID-19 on Channels TV.
He revealed that the state faced a major challenge in dealing with the informal sector in the prevailing lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the disease noting that it was a tough challenge making those who relied on daily income to comply with the sit-at-home order of the state government.
The governor said, the government provided palliatives to cushion the effects of the lockdown on those in the informal sector, especially the vulnerable adding that aside the informal sector, another challenge in the state was the issue of stigmatization, which the state is tackling head-on.
He identified the problem of dealing with the issues of the economy of the people, particularly the informal sector and stigmatization as two major challenges in managing the COVID-19 in the state.
According him, the state government would complete all ongoing infrastructural projects that had reached advanced stages of completion, others would have to wait till 2021 fiscal year.
Dr Okowa added that COVID-19 has posed a huge challenge to the economy because the country’s economy depends largely on oil revenue, saying Delta State is one of the states that depends a lot on the oil funds.
He noted that the health of the people is also very important to his administration hence, the state government would continue to ensure adequate facilities for the management of the COVID-19 cases remain very functional.