World Bank is going to construct 500 Kms rural roads under the Enugu-Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (EN-RAAMP) for easy access to farmlands and movement of farm produce,s to boost agricultural development in Enugu state..
This was made known by the Special Adviser to the Governor of Enugu state on Donor Relations , Dubem Onyia (Jnr.) at the Stakeholders ‘ workshop on Road Sector Reforms in Enugu state under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project ( RAAMP) held on Friday in Enugu.
He explained that RAAMP is a world bank assisted project and the bank complements all the efforts of the state government’ in building rural roads.”We take roads that will benefit the rural community.’, he said .
Some of the participants.
According to him, the workshop was to get the stakeholders to understand the RAAMP project.
Speaking with newsmen, member representing Igboeze North Constituency, in the Enugu state House of Assembly , Hon. Ejike Jude Eze said the State Lawmakers were ready to pass the bill .” We will be there to lend our support,” he said.
On his part, the representative of the Governor and Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro- Industrialization Patrick Ubru said Enugu state had keyed into the RAAMP . He added that Enugu was among the states selected for the project for 2025. He thanked Governor Mbah for his support
Ubru explained that the RAAMP team were at the workshop to carry the state government along , to let them know that they own the project and should protect it.
“It is a partnership of World Bank Assistant with the state to support our Agricultural sector. The road leads to the farm lands, to our farm estates”, Ubru said
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Earlier in his presentation on RAAMP and Road Sector Reforms, RAAMP consultant, Maysem Abedin, said RAAMP has done a lot of good things in Nigeria. He observed that there were issues after road reforms and not before road reforms. He urged people to maintain their roads do that they could last longer.
Abedin disclosed that in Enugu state, the current asset value of roads in Enugu state was N3.1trillion, which is 46% of Enugu Gross Domestic Products ( GDP) “If all the network were in good condition -M4.0 billion
RAAMP is a development project aimed at improving rural access and agricultural marketing to boost agricultural productivity, enhance rural livelihoods, and promote sustainable rural development.
Author: Maureen Ikpeama