Delta State government says no fewer than 8,455 youths in the state have benefited from the State Employment and Expenditure for Result (SEEFOR) in the last five years.
Kingsley Emu, state commissioner for economic planning, said this recently while receiving officials of World Bank and the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning who were in the state to monitor and evaluate the SEEFOR projects.
Emu said the beneficiaries were engaged in clearing of roadsides, cleaning of drainages, collection and disposal of refuse, removal of debris on the roads as well as patching of potholes.
He said the beneficiaries of the programme were also trained in various skills of their choices.
While commending the World Bank and European Union for the intervention programme, he noted that the state was already putting some measures in place to ensure that the SEEFOR programme was sustained in the state.
According to Emu, the SEEFOR project is a lifetime project and the state government is planning to midstream the programme in the state budget. The project is also in line with the “SMART’’ agenda of the present administration.
Earlier, the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Samson Odewale, advised the state to work out modalities that would ensure the sustainability of the project in the state.
Odewale, who commended the state government for its creditable performance, however urged it to partner the private sector in order to ensure that the project was sustained as well as give opportunity for more communities to benefit from the project.
“I must say that Delta has indeed done creditably well in terms of its performance ratio. Beside the various presentations we listened to, we went round to see some of the projects already executed and those that are on going and i saw things for myself.
“It is true that this programme is coming to an end, but you must also know that SEEFOR project has only come to motivate us, encourage us and to also show us the way.
“I think you should be able to prove to the World Bank that you have seen the way. Therefore, you should begin to look at partnering with the private sector in order to ensure the sustainability of this programme,” he said.
On his part, the national project coordinator, SEEFOR project, World Bank, Tunde Lawal, who commended the state for surpassing the laid down target in all the components of the intervention programme added that the successes of the programme has made beneficiaries in all the communities to clamour for its sustainability.
“We have seen that Delta has surpassed the laid down target in all the components of this intervention programme and it is obvious that beneficiaries in all the communities are asking for more.
“With this, my advice to the state is to think of how it can sustain the programme. This is so because it is obvious that this partnership would be ending soon; sometime next year,’’ he said.
The SEEFOR project is a collaboration programme being implemented in four states in the South-South geopolitical zone, which are Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Rivers between World Bank and European Union (EU).
