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- As SEMA begins distribution of foodstuff to councils
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has signed Executive Order on COVID-19.
Acting Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, said the Executive Order entitled ‘Bayelsa State Infectious Disease (Emergency Prevention) Regulation 2020’ was based on the National Quarantine Act Section 8.1(d).
“It is, therefore, domestication of the Act in Bayelsa State,” he added.
After an extensive meeting of the COVID-19 Task Force yesterday, Governor Diri announced partial restriction at all markets in Bayelsa.
Items in the order include, “Only traders in food items and pharmaceuticals will be allowed at the markets; and Ministries of Health and Environment, as well as the Sanitation Authority, will supervise and ensure compliance alongside security personnel.”
He also rolled out palliatives to cushion the effect of the restriction on residents of the state.
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has begun the distribution of food items to various local councils in the state as part of measures to mitigate the Coronavirus lockdown order.
A visit to the SEMA office in Igbogene, Yenagoa Local Council of the state, showed that officials from the various local councils were seen loading some of the items into awaiting trucks.
Items to be distributed include rice, millets and garri, among others.
The governor, Douye Diri, had on Monday directed officials of SEMA to commence immediate distribution of foodstuff in its warehouse.
The food items were actually meant to be distributed to Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) during the last year flood that devastated many communities in the state.
Diri, while speaking with newsmen shortly after inspecting the SEMA warehouse at Igbogene on Monday, said the distribution was to mitigate the effects of measures taken by the state government over the COVID-19 pandemic on people of the state
Chairman, SEMA, Major Hezekiah Isu (rtd), said the food items was supposed to be for flood victims, but distribution was delayed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) since last year.
