Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of Bauchi state on Monday inaugurated the construction of a 19km Liman Katagum-Luda-Lekka rural access road in Zungur District of Bauchi Local Government Area at two billion, four hundred and twenty million, one hundred and thirty-nine thousand, two hundred and fifty naira, fifty-four kobo, only with a project duration of 18 months.
The governor said the project is part of his administration’s collective efforts to provide access roads in rural areas to boost agricultural marketing in a sustainable manner.
Inaugurating the project which is under the World Bank-assisted Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), the governor said plans are underway to connect the road with Gudum in the industrial area of the Bauchi metropolis covering a length of about 24Km that is currently undergoing detailed engineering designs.
Governor Bala Mohammed said under the arrangement, the 19Km Liman Katagum – Luda – Lekka road would be constructed with a 6-meter double coat surface dressing, 1-meter shoulders on both sides, Box culverts of various sizes and numbers together with other complementary cross drainages.
He noted with delight that the RAAMP project has packaged a bundle of a carefully selected range of interventions that will spread across the geopolitical zones of the state, to be delivered within the implementation period which covers the provision of six Agro-Logistic centers, Upgrade/construction of rural roads, Spot improvement of rural roads, Backlog maintenance of roads and provision of cross drainages.
Governor Bala Mohammed recalled that the five-year RAAMP project is to be implemented in 18 states of the federation including Bauchi, in collaboration with the World Bank through contributions from the International Development Association (IDA) to the tune of $280m and the French Development Agency (AFD) to the tune of $230m.
He said the 18 participating states of the Federation are to contribute about $65m and noted that the state government has since provided the needed resources particularly, the N1.4B counterpart funding for the purposes of implementation of activities under the Project, in accordance with the approved Plans and Budget.
The governor expressed satisfaction that Bauchi was amongst the first three in the 18 participating states in the federation that fulfilled the Legal Covenant of passing the Laws to establish the State Rural Access Road Authority (RARA) and the State Road Fund (SRF) with an equally strong commitment to implement the Laws as enshrined.
The Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) that has brought us to this happy milestone which was under preparation when we assumed office in 2019, fits perfectly into the road infrastructure vision of our Administration.
“Today’s event marks another major watershed in the several milestones that our Administration has recorded as we move decisively towards laying a solid infrastructural foundation for the overall development of our state.
“This is in keeping with the result of the baseline studies we conducted at inception which showed that as an agrarian state with over 50% of the population in the rural areas, any economic development strategy that ignored a robust road network programme would fail to lift our people out of poverty.
Today again, to the glory of God, out of the over 4000 kilometers of the road needing attention when we came on board in 2019, we have generated resources and constructed over 1000 urban and rural roads connecting major areas with markets and providing access to basic social services.
“We are satisfied that by facilitating the evacuation of agricultural inputs and produce, the improved road infrastructure is playing a major role in boosting food security, thereby enhancing the purchasing power and overall standard of living of our rural dwellers.
“I am delighted to note that the RAAMP project has selected the 19 Liman Katagum – Luda road to showcase the concept while other roads are being prepared across the state for various types of intervention.
“I congratulate the Ministry for Rural Development and Special Duties and the State Project Implementation Unit for successfully and diligently following the World Bank Guidelines to prepare the project and to obtain all clearances for the award of the contract for the pilot road.”
Governor Bala Mohammed commended the development partners for their continuous support for the effective delivery of the project, saying that his administration is leveraging on the support to focus attention on rural development by providing connectivity to agricultural marketing and production centers.
In a keynote address, the RAAMP project National Coordinator, Engineer Aminu Bodiga Mohammed disclosed that Bauchi state was the first to provide its counterpart contribution for the implementation of the project in the state.
In a welcome address, the State Commissioner for Rural Development and Special Duties, Honourable Faroouk Mustapha said with the support of Governor Bala Mohammed, the state government through the state RAAMP implementation unit has rolled out plans for a seamless implementation of the project across the benefiting areas.