Moses Uwagbale<\/p>\n\n\n
Delta Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, says the state is developing a one-stop-shop Agro-Industrial Park to diversify the its economy beyond oil.<\/p>\n\n\n
Aniagwu, stated this in a statement from the ministry of information in Asaba.<\/p>\n\n\n
Aniagwu who had earlier inspected the Agro-Industrial Park at Aboh-Ogwashi in Aniocha South Local Government Area of the state, said agricultural reforms was part of the SMART agenda of the Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa led administration.<\/p>\n\n\n
He said that the project was one of the serious efforts of Government geared toward diversification of the state\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cYou will recall that during our electioneering campaign in our first tenure, Governor Okowa came out with an acronym \u201cSMART\u201d Agenda in which includes Agricultural reforms and accelerated industrialisation.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cGovernment after governments had continued to preach diversification without doing much in that direction.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThe development of the Agro-Industrial Park is a step toward diversification of the state\u2019s economy beyond oil revenues.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cBecause we have a comparative advantage in agriculture in Delta the governor deemed it fit to set up this Agro-Industrial Park and with the high-powered Committee you will realise that it is not a tea party.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cIt will benefit all citizens of the state irrespective of their location because everybody involved in agricultural production can bring their products for processing.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThis project is a very good step in diversifying the economy through the Agricultural sector\u2019\u2019, Aniagwu said.<\/p>\n\n\n
The Chairman, Implementation Committee, Prof. Eric Eboh, said the project inspection was designed to assess the state of work in relation to overall work plan of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n
He said that the project went through rigorous feasibility, appraisal and analysis both national and international process with over three foreign banks competing to fund the project.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cAs you are already aware the Agro-Industrial Park is one of the major flagships of the Okowa administration.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThe project went through international validation by three banks as viable and self-sustaining and by the time the project kicks off, the agricultural value chain will never be the same again in Delta.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cIt is meant to be a game changer and a one-stop shop for agro processing for domestic consumption and export in Delta.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThe project which started in October has 18 months completion timeline and the Ogwashi-Uku dam was one of the key criteria for the location of the Agro-Industrial Park,\u201d Eboh said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Earlier, the Project Consultant, Mr Kester Ifeadi, said the idea for the project started three years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n
He said the land comprises of 220 hectares with 100 hectares of rice farm as the anchor project.<\/p>\n\n\n
He assured that there would be constant electricity and water supply in the park.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThere was a feasibility study carried out and the present site was chosen as most suitable because of the water bodies in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThe central portion is the engine room for commercial plots of 1.5 hectares of land for agro industrial investments.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThe Park Centre which is the life blood and the epicentre of the Agro-Industrial Park will have the rice plant, warehouses, residential, hospitality, conferences, trainings, seminars, research and quality control laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a lake of 1.4 cubic meters of water to sustain the project all year round including the dam that has the potential to generate electricity to jump start the project.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cTo ensure the sustainability of the project, it will be private sector driven by the Delta State Agro-Industrial Park Ltd\u2019\u2019, Ifeadi said.<\/p>\n\n
Moses Uwagbale Delta Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, says the state is developing a one-stop-shop Agro-Industrial Park to diversify the its economy beyond oil. Aniagwu, stated this in a statement from the ministry of information in Asaba. Aniagwu who had earlier inspected the Agro-Industrial Park at Aboh-Ogwashi in Aniocha South Local Government Area of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[701],"tags":[189],"class_list":["post-29943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-delta","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n