Delta state governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has presented the 2013 budget proposal of 398.31 billion naira to the State House of Assembly.
Of the N398.31 bn. estimates, N252.31 bn. would go for capital expenditure while N145.94 bn. would be for recurrent expenditure.
The Governor who said that the budget was specifically designed to drive the state beyond oil and stimulate job creation, disclosed that the 2013 fiscal estimates was lower than 2012 budget with about N38.9bn .
According to him, the budget would be funded through N198.51 bn from statutory allocation; N61.44 bn from internally generated revenue; N11.44 bn from value added tax; and other capital receipts amounting to in N126.92 bn.
He announced that ten industries would be established in the state in 2013 to promote medium and small scale enterprises in the state.
Explaining further the governor said: “these industries will include four fish feed mills and six cassava processing plants. These industries will be managed by private investors to make them viable and ensure efficient management”.
The governor announced with that 10,000 jobs will be created for the youths in 2013, noting that the state government will utilize the proceeds from the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme to create the jobs.
He also announced that part of the proceeds from the SURE-P will be used for road maintenance, transportation and micro credit.
The Economic sector took the highest chunk of the budget with an allocation of N79.55 billion while Environmental came second with an allocation of N50.75 billion.
Justifying the increase in the Economic sector Dr Uduaghan said: “Our focus is to use agriculture as a tool to achieve Delta Beyond Oil and our desire is to remain on the path of massive food production for the increasing population and the production of industrial raw materials through the establishment of small and medium scale industries”.
He also disclosed that to move the state beyond oil his administration will upgrade the Osubi airport to International standard, develop the Koko/Ogidigben free trade zone as well as Warri industrial park and Asaba ICT park.
Speaking on the health sector the governor announced that there was a steep drop in maternal and child mortality rate while his administration will upgrade facilities at the Delta State Teaching Hospital, Oghara and renovate Eku Baptist hospital as well as upgrade four central hospitals namely Warri, Ughelli, Agbor and Sapele to specialist hospitals.
