…Orders re-negotiation of Oron-Calabar road
Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), has approved that Imo State be included in the French Development Agency (AFD) credit of $60 million for scale up of the Second Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP II).
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, presented the Memo to that effect at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The National Assembly had, in the 2010 External Borrowing Plan of the Federal Government of Nigeria, approved AFD’s credit facility of $60 million to implement RAMP in Imo State.
Adeosun said the development objectives of the project, like the first phase (RAMP I), is to improve transport conditions and bring sustained access to the rural population, through rehabilitation and maintaining key rural transport infrastructure in a sustainable manner in Imo State.
Lack of accessibility, caused by highly deteriorated transport infrastructure, is key determinant of rural poverty and low agricultural productivity.
The project is designed around three components namely upgrading, rehabilitation and maintenance of rural transport infrastructure; community-based road maintenance and mechanised maintenance; and Project Management and Strengthening of Imo State road sector Institutional, Policy and Regulatory Framework.
RAMP II is expected to achieve an improvement in reducing cost of transportation of both passengers and goods, access to health facilities and improved income from agricultural activities in the affected communities.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed said, Council has also given contractors handling the Oron-Calabar section of the East-West road a matching order to speed up completion for the rains.
“Council directed the Minister of Niger Delta to speed up re-negotiations with the contractors to ensure immediate resumption of the completion of that phase of road.”
For his part, the Minister of Water Resources, Sulaiman Adamu, hinted that Council approved the construction of an 80 meter expanded bridge, in Karu, Nassarawa, Constituency project at a cost of N719 million with completion timeline of two years.
