Delta State Government yesterday commenced the batched delivery of palliatives to vulnerable households in the state, an intervention of the private sector coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID).

Addressing newsmen at the exercise in Asaba, the Commissioner for Information Mr Charles Aniagwu said that 179 households have been targeted in its 270 wards across the 25 local government areas.

The Street Reporters Newspaper reports that the state’s spokesman stressed that modalities have been placed to ensure that the items get to targeted beneficiaries, even as he called for the support of well-meaning individuals to support efforts of the state government to make life more bearable for the people.

On the decision of the state government to reverse salaries of workers and political appointees to status quo so as to cushion the adverse effects of the hike in petrol price and electricity tariff, Aniagwu stressed that the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa remained sensitive and responsive to the yearnings of Deltans.

Speaking also, the Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties, Mr. Omamofe Pirah, stated that each of the 179 targeted households would be given one 10Kg bag of rice, one 10Kg bag of garri, one carton of pasta, two cartons of noodles, one 5Kg bag of sugar and one pack of salt.

Commenting on modalities established for the effective distribution of the palliatives, Pirah said that committees have been set up at various levels for such purposes, even as he assured that the exercise would be devoid of politics.

‘’CACOVID believes that if you can afford to recharge your phone with N1000 in a month then you are not vulnerable. They also believe that, for you to be part of this exercise, you should either have a National Identity Card or Voter’s Card for verification.

‘’Although some of the targeted beneficiaries are in the remote villages and do not even have phones, their community leaders know how to identify them and so, the state government has warned that the exercise must be devoid of politics’’ he said.

Acknowledging receipt of palliatives for Warri-North Local Government Area, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Flora Alatan, hinted that the state government, through her ministry will sustain the distribution of palliatives to vulnerable persons, outside the intervention of CACOVID.

Meanwhile, a representative of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Delta State Chapter, Mrs Florence Nwabuonwu, commended the government for the transparency in the distribution process, just as she applauded CACOVID and the state government for the intervention.

CACOVID is a private-sector task force tasked with pooling resources across industries to eradicate COVID-19 from Nigeria.

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