By Austin Ogwuda
THERE was a startling revelation following the order of the Delta State governor Sheriff Oborevwori to his Executive Assistant on Beautification, Emmanuel Okpomo to take over the management of the Cenotaph in Asaba, the State capital recently.
The Cenotaph is one of the three major venues the State government uses to perform certain public functions like inauguration of a new Governor, Independence Anniversary, Children’s Day Celebrations among others. Other alternative venues are the Stephen Keshi Stadium and Events Centre adjacent to the Cenotaph.
Upon taking over the management of the Cenotaph facility, Okpomo revealed that as his team embarked on clean up of the entire environment, it was discovered that a broken down luxury bus parked within the premises has been turned into permanent abode for drug peddlers.
According to him, “when I led a team to pull down the illegal structures at the Cenotaph, three people living inside a bus parked within the premises were dislodged; all kinds of alcohol and other illicit drugs were sold within there.
“You saw the long luxury bus that was towed away from there, there were three people living inside the bus. We decided to clear the area of all forms of illegal activities to strengthen its ambience because it is an emergency ‘stadium’ the governor uses for some programmes or ceremonies”.
Continuing, he said, “It is now even better than what it used to be about two months ago when the governor said l should take over the management of the place. No more illegal activities there.
“We are going to repeat this routine exercise to ensure that people don’t turn such facility to their personal residences.
“We are always working together with Waste Management Board to keep the state clean and to promote environmental sustainability in line with the M-O-R-E Agenda of the State Governor”, Executive Assistant on Beautification, Emmanuel Okpomo further stated.
Source: Tribune
