Says gov planning to tackle Ayetoro Sea incursion
Ondo State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Emammuel Igbasan, yesterday, said the Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu-led government had reduced the state’s debt from an inherited N220 billion to N92 billion.

According to Igbasan, contrary to claims making the rounds, the state’s actual debt stands at less than N10 billion when conceptual debt is taken into account.

The commissioner, who disclosed this to newsmen in Akure, the state capital, attributed the reduction in debt to the administration’s decision to involve citizens in the budgeting processes back to 2017.

He said the approach helped the state to forge partnership with various global entities, leading to financial support and aid.

Igbasan, who also highlighted the state government’s recent rollout of a 30-year development plan, said the comprehensive plan aimed at addressing the state’s aspirations by the 2054.

He said the development plan would serve as a roadmap for sustainable growth and progress for the state, adding that it was formulated after a thorough assessment of the state’s assets, potential, and capabilities.

On the plan to tackle the incessant sea incursion in Ayetoro community, Igbasan said the environmental disaster faced by the inhabitants had been a source of worry for the governor, with the state executive council weighing the options.

He said: “Ayetoro is a problematic and pathetic one for us as a state. If you look at the historical heritage of that place and their enterprises, it is not a place that should go into extinction.

“If you look at the proximity of Ondo State to Lagos and the volume of sand that was pulled from the sea to create a city where they drove the sea several miles away, there’s a possibility the sand was got from Ondo State.

“Some states erected sea breakers at the bottom of the sea, which would change the natural flow of the sea water. That might have been the repercussions that we are facing here. Another perspective is the activities of the oil companies.

“The rise in climate change and the erosion level can be the cause too in Ayetoro. They have awarded numerous projects to salvage the issues in Ayetoro, one of them brought in sand to fill the place, but within a few days, they ran out of sand.

“Many of the perspectives put forth there are not true. We need to conduct a critical survey on the solution to that place. The governor, before he went on vacation, put up a committee on the Ayetoro problem. They are to look for funds to tackle the situation. The governor was emotional, and he said this would be one of the bad things he would leave behind. That he left Ayetoro worse than he met it.”