Better lives for over 200 rural communities in Kaduna with the implementation of the Rural Access and Mobility Project in the State.

Report from the Dev comm.Office of Rural Access and Mobility Project.

ABUJA, April 14, 2014 – More than 200 rural communities from Kaduna State have had their lives significantly improved, following the completion of about 400km of roads and more than 130 river crossings under the Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP) in the State.  This was disclosed by the Kaduna State’s Commissioner Works and Transport, Alhaji Bashiru Aliyu.

The Commissioner was receiving a World Bank-led team, made up of the World Bank, Federal Project Management Unit of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Federal Ministry of Finance, on supervision mission to RAMP in the State.  Alhaji Aliyu, further informed the team that, “The State Governor, His Excellency, Alhaji, Dr. Ramalan Yero is pleased with the progress made in the implementation of the Rural Access and Mobility Project in the State  and particularly encouraged with its  positive impact lives of the rural people in the State.”

Earlier, the National Coordinator, Rural Access and Mobility Project, RAMP, Engr. Ubandoma Ularamu expressed satisfaction with the commitment and support which the Kaduna State Government has shown since the implementation of RAMP in the State. He told the Commissioner that the team was in the State to assess the level of project implementation.

In his own remarks, the leader of the team, Engr. Olatunji Ahmed, Transport specialist at the World Bank and Task Team Leader for the project, said the team was in the State to also provide technical support to the State Project implementation Unit (SPIU) to ensure that the project is completed on schedule.

He described the Kaduna Rural Access and Mobility Project as “An innovative performance based project and the first of its kind in road infrastructure project in Nigeria”.

According to Engr. Ahmed, the Project has a maintenance arrangement for the roads incorporated into the construction contracts right from the beginning, to ensure sustainability of the roads.

Interaction with residents of some of the communities along the constructed roads, visited by the supervision mission confirmed that the economies of the rural people in the affected areas, have been positively turned around.
Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu, Village head of Tami, a settlement along one of the roads in Igabi Local Government Area of the State, told the team ,that the roads have impacted positively on his community as they  have helped to reduced infant and maternal mortality, improved access to hospitals ,schools and markets as well as reduced post-harvest losses.

The Village head thanked the World Bank, Federal and Kaduna State Governments for constructing the roads.

The Rural Access and Mobility Project, RAMP, is aimed at assisting States and Local Governments improve the management of road transport infrastructure in the rural communities in a sustainable manner.

The Kaduna RAMP concept has a maintenance component incorporated in the road construction which ensures that the contractors are responsible for the maintenance of rehabilitated roads over a period of five years.