THE troubled Niger Delta region may soon become a haven for non-oil investors, going by the plans of Delta State government to upscale infrastructural development for prospective manufacturers and sector operators.

Specifically, the state government, last week, in Warri, said the challenges of power supply, transportation, information and communications technology and urbanisation would now be addressed more vigorously, under a strategic agenda to diversify the state's economy, which is currently reeling under the vagaries of oil production and its concomitant negative fallouts.

The state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who spoke at the launching of Warri Industrial and Business Park's Masterplan on Thursday, said the strategy was scripted to bring lasting peace and widespread prosperity to the troubled region.

According to Uduaghan, the state government has already embarked on the provision of 100 megawatts of electricity, which will ultimately be upgraded to 450 megawatts.

"What we have is a modular system of power plant and our intention is to continue to add about 50 or 100 megawatts until we get to the 450 MW target for our Independent Power Projects (IPPs).

"We are hoping that with the plan, in addition to the one from the Federal Government, we should be able to improve on the power situation in the state both for individuals and industrial use," the governor said.

The governor told his audience, which included Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Ms Evelyn Oputu and other top government and private sector officials that "the second major strategy in terms of infrastructure, where we want the people to feel the impact of good governance, is in the area of good transportation system, in terms of airports, railways, roads and seaports."

He said: "We are all aware of the fact that railways, seaports and airports are all federally regulated, hence there are some restrictions here in terms of what you can actually do.

"Even the key roads that you require for transportation are all federal. So, everything about transportation is federal, but there is no way we can say we want to wait for the Federal Government to do it, hence we have started constructing the Asaba Airport, being the other side of Onitsha.

"Onitsha, we all know, is a very big economic zone and Asaba is the economic hub of the state, given its closeness to Onitsha. We hope that in the next three to four months, the Asaba Airport will be completed and planes will start to fly in there.

"The Osubi Airport, which is very close to Warri, has a very short runway and is being operated by Shell. We are discussing with the company so that it can allow us construct another runway that could take bigger planes and we are very close to an agreement on that. We plan to construct a 3.8 kilometre runway, which will accommodate the bigger planes coming to the airport in Warri.

"On the road infrastructure, we started the Asaba - Ughelli road, Warri-Effurun dualisation too. This is in realisation of the fact that the Warri port is a very busy port. The port has picked up and Onitsha market traders are big traders, so instead of using Lagos, they can use the Warri port as a very good alternative.

"This means that if their goods come into Warri, they can get it across to Onitsha by road in one and a half hours. This will save time and money and also reduce the pressure on the other roads.

The second road we are dualising, which is of course a federal government road, is the Ugbeni- Koko road, which is also commercially active, as it is very close to another port."

He explained that ICT and improved urbanisation system are critical to the state's development agenda, "given the profile of our focus to positively turn around the fortunes of the state."

Uduaghan disclosed that some areas in the state would be designated for industrial and commercial activities, "so that the investors will just come in with their portfolios and establish there. It is like buying a house that has been fully furnished and what you just do is to pay and move in.

"Warri Industrial Park is one of such areas that has been designated as an industrial cluster. We also have the Koko area too, which we have designated for that purpose. The Federal Government has just approved Koko as an Export free Zone for Delta State. We still have a place in Kwale that we have marked out as an industrial cluster and there is another one close to Asaba, which has been designated for the same purpose.

"In such industrial clusters, we put infrastructure like water, sewage, power and so on. For the Warri Industrial Business Park, we have an international and world acclaimed consultant, Jurong, from Singapore, who is working on the masterplan for the project.

"As at today, the plan is ready and that is what we are unveiling for people to look at, so that the investors can look at it and see if there are still some areas we can improve upon, before they bring out the final masterplan.

"We have also engaged KPMG, a firm of auditors and chartered accountants to look at the feasibility study of the project. This is also being presented alongside the master plan.

"We are of the opinion that the fallout of the industrial park will affect positively the bigger Warri. The spillover effect is better imagined in terms of development and that is basically why we are here to unveil the industrial park," the governor added.