Governor Peter Mbah on Wednesday flagged off the delivery of 52,000 bags of rice and 52,000 bags of maize as palliatives to the urban and rural poor in Enugu.

A breakdown of the palliatives showed each of the 260 wards in the state will receive 200 bags of rice and 200 bags of maize.

Mr Mbah, however, said the palliatives were part of the short-term strategies for fighting poverty, saying his administration’s medium and long-term plans remained to eradicate poverty in the state in line with his manifesto.

“Part of our vision is to eradicate poverty in Enugu state, and we knew that at the time we were saying that, there was a high rate of poverty in the state,” stated the Enugu governor. “But, a few days into our administration, we have had to contend with a number of policies initiated by the federal government, such as the removal of the petrol subsidy and also the unification of the foreign exchange rates.”

Mr Mbah also noted that the people “in our poverty bracket suddenly expanded because their purchasing power declined drastically.”

“We are making sure that we introduce strategic programmes that would, in the long run, get our people constructively engaged and make a living from such engagements,” explained the governor. “So, what we have simply come to do here today is to present palliatives to the people of Enugu state, particularly our rural poor, urban poor and our downtrodden.”

The governor announced the procurement of buses to subsidise transportation and enable the people to go about their socio-economic activities. He recalled that his administration had set up committees to verify and clear all arrears of pensions and gratuities owed to public servants in Enugu.

(NAN)