With the ongoing lockdown over the Coronavirus global pandemic continues to bite harder, the Lagos State government has said that it plans to refocus its 2020 budget to make it conform to the current realities following the impact of the crisis on the state’s economy.
This is as the state’s record for the COVID-19 infection has hit 145, while it had now been receiving between five and 10 new cases everyday.
Mr. Sam Egube, the state’s Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, disclosed this on Thursday during an inter-ministerial press briefing on COVID-19, featuring different members of the State Executive Council (SEC), at Alausa, Ikeja.
Others who spoke at the event were Commissioners for Finance, Environment, Education, Youth and Social Development, Home Affairs, Local Government and Community Affairs, Agriculture, Health and Special Adviser on Community Engagement.
Egube maintained that the refocusing of the budget was necessary following the drop in crude oil price and its effect on the nation’s earning, the allocation to states had been affected, while the state’s internal revenue had also gone down.
He stressed that the state government had to continue to provide responsible and responsive leadership to be able to navigate itself above the challenges being created by the pandemic.
Egube stressed that the government had been able to tackle the challenges of providing for the poor and the vulnerable, to protect them from the situation they found themselves with the ongoing lockdown.
He said the state government, with the support of well-meaning individuals and organisations had been providing the poor and vulnerable citizens with palliatives in form of food supply, even as special food markets had been formed so that Lagosians could see food to purchase during the period of the lockdown.
Egube stressed: “The pandemic came with its economic challenges, as had been noted by the Minister of Finance. We are refocusing the budget because of the current challenges, to ensure that the economy is strong.”
He urged Lagosians to remain strong and be their neighbours’ keepers and refrain from panic buying and insure themselves against risks, even as he stressed that residents should register with the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) to be able to be captured in the state’s planning and enjoy facilities of the government.
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Rabiu Olowo, the state’s Commissioner of Finance, who corroborated his Budget counterpart, disclosed that the government had set machinery in motion for the renegotiation of its debts as the current had affected its fortunes.
He maintained that the government had been enjoying the goodwill of well-meaning people who had been donating to cushion the effects of the pandemic, disclosing that dedicated accounts had been opened, which he said would be properly managed for the good of the citizens.
Olowo also said the government would be giving a three-month moratorium for Small and Medium Entreprises (SMEs), since the lockdown would adversely affect them’
He expressed the hope that the period of the lockdown would offer opportunities for such businesses and individuals to look out for new opportunities they could exploit.
Dr. Akin Abayomi, in his update, maintained that the pandemic is under control in the state as everything that was being done, had been working as the government had been preparing for such an outbreak since last five years after Ebola.
Reeling out figures, Abayomi said the state had recorded 145 confirmed cases so far, discharges 39, seven of them on Thursday, while two people, who were not originally discovered in the state, died, adding that the state had achieved 100 recovery in all cases admitted in its facilities.
He also maintained that Lagos had established three independent testing facilities while several health experts had been trained to operate the facilities, describing its laboratories as very sophisticated and best in Africa.
“We are increasing capacity to diagnose COVID-19 everyday, increasing bed capacity, and facilities manned by specially trained manpower,” he added.
He said apart from the Yaba Mainland Hospital, the state now had established Onikan Isolation Centre, in addition to the ones at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and the Gbagada Isolation Centre and Landmark, with increased bed capacity to between 300 and 400 bed capacity, as well as four quarantine facilities.
