As part of the Delta State Government’s effort at controlling the menace of erosion in the state, the state government has signed a 2.4 billion naira contract with Levante Construction Limited for the Owanta Gully Erosion Project in Ika North-East Local Government Area of the state.

The Secretary to the Delta State Government, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, witnessed the signing of the contract between the Delta State Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management project (NEWMAP) and Levante Construction Limited.

Mr. Ebie said the administration of Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa saw the need to partner with the World Bank through the Delta State NEWMAP to tackle erosion challenges in the state, and called on Levante Construction Company to ensure that the project is executed on time and to specifications.

Ebie said the project is expected to last for eighteen months and that the State Government had identified four other critical erosion/natural disaster sites in the state which needed urgent attention and they would be tackled one after the other after the completion of the Owanta project.

In his remarks, the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Christian Onogba, said the contract signing agreement between NEWMAP and Levante Construction Limited was historical because the menace of erosion in the area would be a thing of the past as it would erase the impression of pessimists who thought the project was a fluke and a political deceit.

Mr. Onogba also said the importance of the project could not be over-emphasised as it would impact positively and improve the livelihood of residents who hitherto had been suffering untold hardship as a result of the erosion in the area.

Earlier, the project Coordinator of Delta NEWMAP, Mr. Isaac Ifiofio, commended Governor Okowa for his intervention in ameliorating the sufferings of the people and expressed happiness that the project would commence soon.

In the same vein, the Senior Project Coordinator of Levante Construction Limited Engr. Emma Adidi, thanked the Delta state Government for awarding the contract to the company, while promising that they would ensure that they deliver a standard project according to the contract specifications.

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