By Young Erhuirhoro
LAGOS JANUARY 9TH (URHOBOTODAY)-A full completed but yet to commission vocational and skill acquisition centre built by Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), an interventionist agency of the Delta state government was recently razed down by fire at Evwreni town, along Ughelli/Patani road, Ughelli North LGA of Delta state.
Narrating the fire incidence to Urhobotoday.com during a visit to the site, a resident in the vicinity who doesn’t want his name in print said, “The fire started in the night and you know we are in the harmattan season, so a little spark can ignite fire at anytime. I suspected that the fire entered this place from behind. It could be as a result of dry leaves or small wood that fell across the fence from the back. This is what I believe caused the fire outbreak.”
Another reason of the fire outbreak as also given by another Evwreni indigene under conditions of anonymity was that, “the delay in commissioning the project by the Delta state government is a cause of this fire outbreak. Assuming the place is put to use since it was completed by the contractor, even though fire breaks out, the damage wouldn’t have been like this. The place is lonely and nobody is using it. To make matters worse, the security guards keeping this place have not been be coming to work. Though I didn’t know the reason why they stopped coming but it may not be far from non-payment of salaries to them. In this case, our government should commission projects immediately they are completed without delay.”
No fewer than three buildings that were well equipped were engulfed in the inferno but there was no lost of life recorded. The actual cause of the fire incidence was not ascertained, as all efforts to speak to the project contractor and the president general of Evwreni kingdom, Mr. Bright Adjogbe on the fire incidence was futile as at the time of filing in this report.