Bayelsa Community Hails NDDC Staff Housing Scheme
The Elebele community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has lauded the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for encouraging its staff to go into estate development to address accommodation challenges in their areas of operation.
Giving the commendation during the ground-breaking ceremony for the Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing Estate at Elebele community, in Yenagoa council area, the Deputy Paramount Ruler of the community, High Chief Isaac Jonny, assured the NDDC of maximum cooperation to ensure the success of the project.
The
royal father commended the Coordinator of the Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing
Estate, Mr. Christopher Davies, for his doggedness and sincerity during the
negotiations and acquisition of the parcel of land for the estate.
He
stated: “All security measures would be taken to guarantee uninterrupted
development at the site as all the financial obligations has been met by the
Olive Tree Housing Estate.”
In his address, the
Coordinator of Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing Estate, Mr Christopher Davies,
said the staff housing project, would open up a new environment in the Bayelsa
State capital.
He
said: “We want to impact positively on the state by bringing a laudable
privately-driven project like this to the state capital. The members of the
Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing Estate believe in our team, hence they entrusted
us with the responsibility to drive this project to a logical conclusion.
“The
housing estate scheme is a product of the NDDC staff co-operative society which
the third Management Committee were supposed to deliver to the co-operators
since 2017.”
Davies
said that the Staff Housing Estate was born out of the desire to bequeath to
members an ultra-modern estate as welfare to be replicated in other NDDC
states.
He
observed that the process of acquiring the land was challenging; starting from
settlement of the initial cost to the families, the survey of the land and
payment of relevant taxes to the state government.
Davies
said that all necessary documentations and publications were made and the
Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) was signed and sealed on January 15, 2020, by
Chief Seriake Dickson, the immediate past Governor of Bayelsa State.
He
said that the ground breaking ceremony was a good opportunity to hand over the
certificates and necessary documents to members that subscribed to the housing
scheme.
The
coordinator remarked: “We thank the Management of the NDDC that saw the vision
as a laudable one and gave its moral and technical support to ensure that
today’s occasion was successful and as a plus for the staff of the NDDC in the
quest to make a difference in the immediate and remote communities.”
In
her own remarks, the former Chairman of the Amalgamated Union of Public
Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees,
AUPCTRE, NDDC Chapter, Comrade Ebi Ake, noted that the process of acquiring the
land for the estate had been long and challenging. She thanked the Coordinator
whom she described as a man with a lion’s heart.
Also speaking, the
Managing Director of E-Max Properties Limited, Engr. Harrisson Oyumane, lauded
the Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing Estate for its efforts in housing
development. He said that interested NDDC staff would have an opportunity to access
financial facilities to help them develop their properties.
Charles Obi Odili
Director, Corporate
Affairs
December 12, 2020.