THE Presidential Committee on North East Initiative (PCNI) on Thursday said it had initiated a community infrastructure development programme to fast track rebuilding and resettlement of communities ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency in the region.

Mr David Garnvwa, the Special Assistant, Technical, to PCNI’s Chairman, made the disclosure when members of the committee’s technical team visited Dalwa community in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno.

Garnvwa disclosed that infrastructure would be upgraded in major towns under the first phase of the programme, while reconstruction project would be executed in communities destroyed by the insurgents under the Village Re-grouping Programme.

He explained that PCNI’s technical team had earlier visited Adamawa and Yobe, noting that the project would be implemented in the two states.

The special assistant added that the committee had deployed its personnel to  assess the affected communities, noting that PCNI had introduced the project consultant to the state government, referring to a meeting held on Wednesday with the technical team of the Borno Ministry of Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Resettlement (RRR).

He explained that “we are on assessment visit to facilitate reconstruction of communities to enable displaced persons to return home and resume their normal lives.

“The assessment team comprises of personnel from our consultant who will design the reconstruction work for successful implementation of the programme.

“Some eight communities have been selected for the project.”

Alhaji Babagana Zulum, the former Commissioner for RRR, lauded PCNI over the gesture, adding that the project would go a long way to address security and infrastructure challenges bedevilling the state, as well as accelerate recovery of social and economic activities.

He lamented that: “there is no single town on Maiduguri-Biu road, a distance of over 130 kilometres and few towns still exist on Maiduguri-Ngala Road; due to large scale destruction by Boko Haram insurgents.

“Proactive measures are necessary to revive the communities and ensure sustainability of the programme.”

Zulum, who is also the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Borno, reiterated government’s commitment to cooperate with the PCNI to facilitate successful implementations of the programmes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dalwa is one of the hundreds of rural communities ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgents, thereby; forcing the inhabitants to take shelter at various Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri and major towns in the state.

-NAN

BE

– Nov. 9, 2018 @ 10:42 GMT |