The Ondo State Government has announced that security had tightened around its warehouses to prevent looting of palliatives received from the federal government to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
The government also disclosed that the items will soon be distributed to vulnerable members of the society.
The Chairman of the Palliative Strategy and Implementation Committee and the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Wale Akinterinwa, made the disclosure when he led other members of the committee to inspect the food items and agricultural inputs.
Akinterinwa said the state had received N2bn out of the N5bn disbursed by the federal government to states.
The Finance Commissioner further stated that the state has received 5,700 bags of rice from the federal government but would soon be distributing about 12,000 bags of rice.
According to him, the government has set up a special committee made up of all spectrums of the society to prevent the distribution from becoming a political party affair.
His words: “We are here to inspect foodstuff that we intend to give to the vulnerable masses. We have gone around warehouses to ensure the foodstuff is in good condition. We will share them very soon.
“The federal government gave us 5,700 bags of rice. The state has bought more than that. We will start sharing very soon. We put together a committee at the local government level. We have good representation that cuts across all spectrum of the society. We have gotten N2bn and we hope that they will give us the balance. They sent maize to us but we received a small amount of maize and we hoped to get the balance.
“The distribution will not be a party affair. That is why we put up the committee. We have the CAN and Muslim representatives.
“We will be distributing about 12000 bags of rice. We are also giving out packaged food items besides the rice. The packaged food consists of four different local food items.
“The inputs for farmers are ready. We have power tillers, pesticides, and tricycles to help move farm harvests to cities. We hope it will tackle the food crisis and bring down prices if the yields are good. We have supported the farmers to get certain things they need.”