The Bayelsa State Govern
ment has urged its representatives in the National Assembly to redouble efforts at obtaining constitutional recognition for its 32 Rural Development Areas (RDAs).
The RDAs were created out of the eight local government areas of the State by the State House of Assembly in 2003.
The Commissioner for Local Government Administration, Chief Mitema Obordor, made the appeal in Yenagoa last Tuesday while inaugurating the Chairmen/Executives of the RDAs known as the (G-32 Forum).
Obordor said the state would develop faster when the local council areas created by the state were given constitutional recognition and received allocation from the Federal Government.
He said since the creation of the 32 areas, the state government had continued to finance them to ensure even development of the state.
The commissioner stressed that the government had stepped up development at the rural areas with the planned disbursement of monthly project funds to the RDAs.
He lauded Governor Seriake Dickson for expanding the frontier of development to the rural communities and urged the RDA chairmen to key into the developmental agenda of the governor.
Obordor, however, charged the executive members of the RDAs to carry their council members along and ensure transparency in all their activities.
Speaking on behalf of the G-32 Forum, Mr Asari Kerry assured the government of their commitment to providing quality service to the people at the grassroots.
He expressed the commitment of the chairmen to ensure that the dividends of democracy were delivered to the nooks and crannies of the rural communities.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government Administration, Mr Nathan Ayebakeme, urged the RDA leadership to refrain from politics that would hamper development in their areas.
