Gov. Mohammed flags off 115km roads worth N23.3bn
By Idris Ayinde
Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state on Wednesday, flagged off the construction and upgrade of five rural roads with 115 kilometres cut across the three Senatorial Zones of the state.
Mohammed stated this during the flagging off of the 18.88 Hardawa- Gwaram- Akuyam rural road in Misau Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, the project is being implemented in 19 states of Nigeria under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) and funded by the World Bank and French Development Agency in collaboration with the Federal Government and the benefiting states.
He said out of the 19 participating states in the federation, Bauchi was among the first three that fulfilled the legal requirements of passing the laws to establish the state Rural Access Road Authority (RARA) and the State Roads Fund (SRF).
“The five rural roads have a total 115-kilometres and the contract for the execution of the roads have been awarded to three different contractors as earlier mentioned at the total cost of N23.3 billion.
Highlighting the roads and their cost implications, Mohammed said “there is a 30.33 kilometre Charachara – Ragwam- Magwanshi- Lafiya road with a contract sum of N5.6 billion.
“There is also a 25.80 kilometres Mainamaji Badara-Kuka-Pali road at the cost of N4.7 billion, 18.88 kilometres Akuyam-Gwaram-Hardawa rural road at the cost of N4.2 billion,” he said.
Others, Mohammed said included a 15.00 kilometre Durum-Nahuta rural road at the cost of N2.9 billion as well as a 25.00 kilometre Garin-Gami-Gadai-Madufa rural road at the cost of N5.6 billion.
“The contracts have been duly procured by the world Bank in accordance with the international best practices
“I would like to commend the state Ministry of Rural Development and Special Duties for diligently following the World Bank guidelines to prepare projects and obtained all the clearance for the award of the contracts,” said the governor.
Mohammed also appreciated the Minister of Finance for paying the 30 per cent of all the amount mentioned and lauded the federal government for the continuous support for effective delivery of the projects.
He said this was the first time in the history of the state that the rural areas were receiving such an unprecedented attention in road construction to the tone of over N23 billion.
He, however, urged the contractors to keep their reputations intact by executing quality projects and complete them within specified timelines.
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