The Elebele community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has lauded the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for encouraging its staff to go into estate development to address accommodation challenges in their areas of operation.
Giving the commendation during the ground-breaking ceremony for the Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing Estate at Elebele community, in Yenagoa council area, the Deputy Paramount Ruler of the community, High Chief Isaac Jonny, assured the NDDC of maximum cooperation to ensure the success of the project.
The royal father commended the Coordinator of the Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing Estate, Mr. Christopher Davies, for his doggedness and sincerity during the negotiations and acquisition of the parcel of land for the estate.
He stated: “All security measures would be taken to guarantee uninterrupted development at the site as all the financial obligations has been met by the Olive Tree Housing Estate.”
In his address, the Coordinator of Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing Estate, Mr Christopher Davies, said the staff housing project, would open up a new environment in the Bayelsa State capital.
He said: “We want to impact positively on the state by bringing a laudable privately-driven project like this to the state capital. The members of the Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing Estate believe in our team, hence they entrusted us with the responsibility to drive this project to a logical conclusion.
“The housing estate scheme is a product of the NDDC staff co-operative society which the third Management Committee were supposed to deliver to the co-operators since 2017.”
Davies said that the Staff Housing Estate was born out of the desire to bequeath to members an ultra-modern estate as welfare to be replicated in other NDDC states.
He observed that the process of acquiring the land was challenging; starting from settlement of the initial cost to the families, the survey of the land and payment of relevant taxes to the state government.
Davies said that all necessary documentations and publications were made and the Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) was signed and sealed on January 15, 2020, by Chief Seriake Dickson, the immediate past Governor of Bayelsa State.
He said that the ground breaking ceremony was a good opportunity to hand over the certificates and necessary documents to members that subscribed to the housing scheme.
The coordinator remarked: “We thank the Management of the NDDC that saw the vision as a laudable one and gave its moral and technical support to ensure that today’s occasion was successful and as a plus for the staff of the NDDC in the quest to make a difference in the immediate and remote communities.”
In her own remarks, the former Chairman of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, AUPCTRE, NDDC Chapter, Comrade Ebi Ake, noted that the process of acquiring the land for the estate had been long and challenging. She thanked the Coordinator whom she described as a man with a lion’s heart.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of E-Max Properties Limited, Engr. Harrisson Oyumane, lauded the Olive Tree NDDC Staff Housing Estate for its efforts in housing development. He said that interested NDDC staff would have an opportunity to access financial facilities to help them develop their properties.