THE ground breaking ceremony to signal commencement of work at the Warri Industrial Business Park (WIBP) would take place in the second quarter of 2013, Chairman of the Delta State Economic Advisory team, Mr. Bismark Rewane has said.

Rewane, at a meeting of the team in Lagos which had Governor Uduaghan in attendance, stated that all arrangements have been put in place to ensure the commencement of work at the park.

He disclosed that the location of the park has made it such that a lot of economic activities would take place at the area in line with the Delta Beyond Oil policy of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration.

He observed that Governor Uduaghan’s administration has about two and half years to go and as such, all hands must be on deck to ensure that his vision of positioning the state for prosperous years beyond oil was achieved.

Rewane who was flanked by the Commissioner for Information, Barr. Chike Ogeah and his Economic Planning counterpart, Mr Kenneth Okpara threw light on the outcome of the meeting saying, “the meeting was very constructive, we evaluated where we stand and we are satisfied that the team is working hard to achieve our goals.”

“The concept of Delta Beyond Oil is something that remains solid in our vision and we shall plan and execute projects to achieve such,” Rewane said, adding, “the ground breaking ceremony for the Warri Industrial Business Park would take place by the second quarter of this year.”

He stated that the WIBP which has the potential to create 50,000 jobs within five years is a massive investment that “involves a significant commitment from the government and the private sector,” noting that telecommunication, office blocks, industries, among others would be at the park.

“I can assure you that we will have a power plant, we will have a broadband internet access, we are close to the Warri port and have access roads to the park,” he stated, noting that efforts are also on to ensure that moribund companies in the state are revived to boost employment and economic activities.

On how to revive the ailing companies, Rewane said, “it is a long term strategy and know too that the companies belong to private individuals, but, what we are doing is to encourage them to open up their business by providing infrastructure.”

He assured that most of the projects being executed by Governor Uduahgan’s administration would be completed before the end of his tenure, stating that the few that would not be completed “must have gotten to a point of irreversibility because we are looking at Delta State’s interest in perpetuity.”

In her remarks, the Managing Director of  Bank of Industry,  Evelyn Oputu, who is also, a member of the Advisory Team said the Bank of Industry is working closely with the Delta state government because, the state  “has a lot of comparative advantage for industrialization,” asserting, “so, we are working closely with the state government to achieve such.”

Among those who attended the meeting were the chairman of ThisDAY newspapers, Mr Nduka Obaigbena, the state commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Kingsley Eze Emu.