Members of the Delta State House of Assembly have unanimously approved the upgrade of the state School of Marine Technology to a polytechnic.
The approval followed the passage into law of a bill before the House seeking the repeal of the Delta State School of Marine Technology, Burutu, Law 2006 and enacting the Delta State Polytechnic, Burutu Law, 2023.
In passing the bill into law, the lawmakers noted that it would help in upgrading the current status of the School to an institution that has the capacity for the award of a Higher National Diploma.
Speaking extensively on the merits of the bill during plenary, the lawmakers unanimously voted for the school to be upgraded to a polytechnic for the institution to have an increased chance of enhanced funding.
Prior to passing the Bill, several groups had pleaded with Delta state Governor; Ifeanyi Okowa to upgrade the institution to a Polytechnic
The Ijaw People’s Development initiative, had in one of such appeals tasked Governor Okowa to also complete the abandoned permanent site of Delta State School of Marine Technology.
The group urged the member of the State House of Assembly representing Burutu Local Government Area to prevail on the governor to complete the abandoned project.
The group said it was wrong that successive governments of Delta State ‘do not take Ijaw riverine areas development serious’.
According to the group, what Burutu gets as a people is not commensurable to the huge economic contributions to the state’s Internally Generated Revenue and the Federal Government.
According to the group, “the economic importance of Burutu surpasses economic contributions of other LGAs in the state.
“We protested and the contractor was mobilised back to site, and the project was raised to the second story decking level and since then the project has been abandoned till date.
“The important of this project cannot be overemphasized. The school since its establishment is occupying a civic center owns by Burutu community.”
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