RAAMP set to commence 2000 kilometers road project across rural communities in Ondo state.
RAAMP/Consultation
To maintain this road after completion, Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) and world bank are proposing two bills for the Creation of Rural Access Road Authority (RARA) and State Road Fund(SRF) respectively.
To achieve this World bank embarked on consultation visit to Ondo state to interact with the focal Ministerial Department and Agencies( MDAs) of the State Government towards have legislative support for the proposed agencies.
The world bank consultant and the State Project Implementation Unit( SPIU) of RAAMP met with the relevant ministries and agencies for their recommendations and support for the bills.
The first point of call was the office of the special adviser to Governor Akeredolu on Rural and community Development where the team discussed the reasons for proposing the bills.
RAAMP State project coordinator Engineer Olusola Dada said the Consultant is in Ondo state to see a way a law can be made to protect the interest of majority in the rural community.
RAAMP Regional Infrastructure Advisor for Southern Region Alhassan Aliyu said an agencies like RARA is plan to maintain the road for a lasting use for the people in the rural community while SRF will help in making money available for the maintenance of the rural roads.
He said the World Bank will spend 50 million Dollars on the road project to assist farmers in taking their farm produce from farm settlements to where their product will be sold.
The World Bank Road Sector Reform Consultant Maysam Abedin said the road reform is part of the agreement the state governments signed with World bank to have a agency responsible for the maintenance of rural roads after their financials complete the project.
He said World bank consider the reform which gives birth to SRF because Rural roads face managerial bias, political bias and climatic issues which make them damaged in no distance time.
Abedin said the SRF will be private driven while government will contribute a percentage of its capital budget to complement the fund.
The special Adviser to Governor on Rural and Community Development Babatunde Kolawole said the governor is passionate about RAAMP and the State government is determined to give the urban and rural areas equal development especially in infrastructure sector.
He said the government has given the Directorate an enabling environment to perform their duties in line with World bank saying the State Government is determined to kick start RARA and SRF in the state.
The Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget Pastor Emmanuel Igbasan said Ondo state government is steps ahead of them urging them to look at what Ondo state has on ground and make necessary adjustments where necessary to avoid over taxing residents of the state.
For generation of fund for SRF, The chairman Ondo state Internal Revenue Service Tolu Adegbie represented by the Director in charge of ministries and Agencies Daniyan Afolabi said the Agency has modern equipment to help for generation of fund for SRF saying the agency is ready to support them.
The senior special Assistant to Governor Akeredolu on Transport Tobi Ogunleye said the visit is timely and the Agency will work hand in glove with the world bank to make the legislation a reality.
Director state resources and revenue monitoring in Ministry of Finance Olorunsola Abisola and permanent Secretary ministry of Justice cyril Akinrinsola said the proposed bill is a welcome development for the State.
A Recommendation was made to change the State Road Fund to State Rural Road Authority.
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