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Dickson announces new partnership with foreign investors in the non-oil sector

By BusinessNews Staff on August 26, 2014

The Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, has said that a new partnership and investment profile in agriculture expected to be one of the most viable sources of revenue away from oil and gas is underway in the state.

The Governor also restated his administration’s desire to partner with foreign investors on a massive investment in the non-oil sector as well as the gas sector of the state’s economy.

Dickson said though the sector is yet to be explored by the state, the new partnership will entail careful planning and execution of its agricultural programmes to sustain the state’s economy.

He explained that with a very successful pilot programme in rice production, the state was set to become a major rice producer for both local consumption and export in the nearest future, adding that discussions had already been held with foreign experts, who are expected to be in the state soon to invest in rice production, with about one thousand youths set to be engaged in what he called ‘big time plantation of rice.’

“But the type of investment we are looking for has actually been concluded with some of the investors to arrive soon. We want them to come so we can put like 1,000 young people and do big time farming.That is the direction we are going, not these small ones, it’s got to be massive, whatever we do in agriculture, we need the Airport because we want to be in a position to evacuate our farm produce and the arrangement after we are set is that a lot of Bayelsans should do farming.”

Dickson said the present administration’s vision for agriculture is massive and has a comparative advantage in agriculture, especially in rice production, in places like Peremabiri in Southern Ijaw, Isampou in Kolokuma/Opokuma, Otuasega in Ogbia and Burma in Nembe Local Government Area of the State.

He called on the people of the state to take to farming, “no matter the scale, the Bayelsa Agricultural Development Company has been mandated to buy up every excess harvest from farmers across the state. The present farm projects embarked upon by government and the private investor are on a small scale, though with some recorded success as pilot projects. I count on Bayelsans to embrace farming as a way of life, either food crop planting or fish farming”

“The Bayelsa Agricultural Development Company is to buy up farm produce and assist in the provision of loan facilities, training for skills acquisition as well as getting agricultural experts to make inputs and direct ongoing projects as a means of intervention in agriculture”

On the role of the ongoing Cargo Airport project in the new partnership, Governor Dickson said though there is an urgent need to have the airport project completed, “it will serve as a means of evacuating farm produce to their required destinations in Europe, where there are ready markets for the products.”

[This Day]

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