The Chairman, Bayelsa State Directorate for Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Engr. Ebiye Tarabina, has tasked contractors handling government projects in the state to intensify efforts to meet projects completion deadline.
Engr. Tarabina gave the directive during an inspection and evaluation tour of ongoing projects in the state recently.
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Projects inspected includes the Igbedi Road; th Glory Drive to Onopa Road; the Igbogene /AIT Road project, the Yenagoa /Oporoma Road and the Elebele Bridge project.
While stating that the projects are very significant for the present and future development of the state, he urged contractors not to relent on their efforts.
The chairman who noted that Governor Douye Diri was committed to the completion of all ongoing projects in the state, charged contractors handling the various projects to expedite action.
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Site of one of the road projects under construction.
He said one of the objectives of the prosperity administration led by Senator Douye Diri in embarking on infrastructural development was to create employment opportunities for the teeming youths in the state.
He noted that investment in these projects has been made possible of the government judicious application of state resources to meet the pressing needs of the people.
At the site of the Glory Drive to Onopa and Igbedi Road project, the project monitoring boss expressed delight at the pace and quality of work achieved so far.
He, however, urged the contractors to increase the pace for the timely completion of the projects.
The site manager of CCECC , the company handling the Glory Drive to Onopa road project, Henry Zhang, assured that the company will do everything within its power to ensure that the project is completed on schedule.
In a similar vein, the General Manager of PAACIE construction company, who is handling the Egbedi road project, Mr. Sarkis Abichmount pledged completion of the project on record time, said more milestones will be achieved on the project in the coming days.
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Another site of the ongoing road project.
The chairman was accompanied by members of the board, heads of departments, engineers, news men and support staff of the directorate.
Al Jazeera on Monday said one of its journalists was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza, two weeks after the broadcaster lost six staff and freelancers in an attack.
Mohammad Salama, a photojournalist and cameraman, was killed in an attack on a medical complex that left 14 people dead, the Qatar-based news network said.
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His death was “confirmed,” a spokesperson told AFP.
Earlier this month, four Al Jazeera staff and two freelancers were killed in an Israeli air strike outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, prompting widespread condemnation.
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Mahmud Bassal, Gaza’s Civil Defence spokesman, also said the death toll in the latest attack stood at 14, including journalists.
An Israeli explosive drone targeted a building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, followed by an airstrike as the wounded were being evacuated, Bassal said.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.
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Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.
The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.
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“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.
“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.
The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.
Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.
Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.
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Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.
“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,”two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.
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Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.
Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.
The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.
“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.