Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday stated that the Lagos State Government would begin the disbursement of the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund (ETF) and other empowerment programmes initiated by his administration next week.
Ambode made the statement at the 3rd Quarter 2016 Town Hall Meeting, held at the Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.
He said that the funds for the programmes targeted to assist youths, artisans and the needy to become self reliant have been provided, hence beneficiaries would start getting support from the last quarter of the year.
“We will roll out all our empowerment programmes immediately to assist all our youth, artisans and the needy. The funding for the N500m Lagos State Persons Living with Disability Fund has been provided and beneficiaries will start getting support from this quarter,” Governor Ambode said.
Governor Ambode also disclosed plans to recruit at least 5,000 Neighbourhood Watchers with new recruits expected to earn at least N25, 000 monthly with other allowances.
He said the neighbourhood Safety Agency Bill which he signed into Law on August 15, 2016, was part of efforts to institutionalize and deepen community policing in the State.
Speaking on the budget performance of the 2016 budget, Governor Ambode disclosed that the State’s budget performance for January to September performed at 69 per cent as against 65 per cent for the same period in 2015.
He said a total of N166.8billion has been spent on capital projects this year, a figure, he said, was more than double the N53.6billion spent for the same period last year.
Governor Ambode said the State generated a total revenue of N97.3billion in the last quarter with an expenditure of expenditure of N110.2billion, noting that the cash reserve of the State has remained positive.
