The Senate Committee on States and Local Government Administration says it will make a case for Border Development Agency to be funded from the Service Wide Vote in view of its critical functions.
The Chairman of the committee, Sen. Abdullahi Gumel, made this known when the agency appeared before it for budget defence on Monday in Abuja.
Gumel said current budgetary allocation to the agency was a far cry from what it required to carry out its mandate to impact positively on the people positively.
He said in the interim, the committee would make a case for the agency before the Committee on Appropriation, to increase its 2019 budget.
He said, “They have 330 constituency projects that require inspection by staff of the agency and as such they need more staffing.
“They also require life insurance because of the volatile nature of the areas they work.
“It is important to note that they traverse flash point borders like Bakassi, Adamawa, Zamfara, kebbi and Sokoto,” he said.
Gumel said it was time more attention was paid to funding the agency to assist border communities, adding that they suffered most from insurgency and communal clashes among others.
He said, “Projects in those areas needed to be monitored and for exposing the workers, we need to insure them.
“We will recommend to the Appropriation Committee to give insurance to the professionals that will inspect those projects because it is necessary.
“This is to ensure that the design and agreement on the projects are followed to the latter.
“So, we will rework the budget to know how we will collaborate with the appropriation committee’’.
The chairman said border communities have suffered in the midst of plenty, adding that it was imperative for government to ensure they had access to basic amenities.
He said there was no gainsaying the fact that the agency’s mandate cut across providing basic infrastructure to border communities, to building capacity and ensuring high standard of living for the populace.
The Executive Secretary of the Border Development Agency, Captain Junaid Abdullahi, said the agency had over the years embarked on inclusive development strategies to bring succour to border communities, who he said were often neglected because of the peculiar nature of their settlement.
He said the agency’s mandate encapsulated the key principles and thrust of the Economic Growth Plan of the Federal Government.
He pointed out that the agency “assists border communities to meet their needs in terms of clothing education, water, local industries, sanitation, among others.
“It has embarked on execution of projects like feudal roads, farm lands, building of classrooms and furniture, provision of health centres and equipment like ambulances.
“We also embark on projects like building markets, security posts and providing solar powered street lights as well as human capital development including skills acquisition training.
“Furthermore, we provide grinding machines, tractors, distribution of fertilisers among others.
“We do this as part of mandate to ensure better standard of living for people in the border communities,”he said.
The executive secretary said the intervention from the agency had impacted positively on the lives of the people, adding that, “for the first time in decades we were able to make them feel the impact of government.
“We will continue to carry out continuous monitoring and evaluation to ensure that all programmes reflect the mandate of the agency.
On the 2018 Budget performance, Abdullahi said the agency was able to apply the top 21 Border States in 105 local government areas, adding that 73 projects were executed under its mandate.
He said the 2019 Personnel Budget is N221.45 million; Overhead Budget is N316.47 million while Capital Budget is N2.91 billion.
On Challenges facing the agency, the executive secretary said the cost of executing projects due to inaccessibility and unattractive nature of the border communities.
He added that there were cases of insecurity occasioned by clashes as well as difficulty in getting state and local governments to key into projects in those areas.
Abdullahi commended the committee for its support, while soliciting for more support to continue to improve on carrying out projects in the border communities.
(NAN)
