Roads
By Ayodeji Alabi
Akure, May 23, 2018 (NAN) Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Wednesday reiterated his commitment to opening up rural areas with good roads to boost the socio-economic development of the state.
Akeredolu made this known in Akure during inspection of the ongoing Molege-Ute farm access road project in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State.
He explained that once rural roads were able to be accessed by the farmers and residents, it would in turn boost the economy of the state.
“Part of our five cardinal programmes is rural development and in doing that, we have keyed into Rural Access Mobility Programme (RAMP), a World Bank assisted programme.
“Most essentially, this exercise is to have farm to market access roads. So this Malege area has a lot of farming activities and people are having difficulty taking their produce from farms to market because of the roads,’’ he said.
The governor further said the roads would give the people easy ways to move their goods to the market at minimal cost of transportation..
“During our election campaign, we did promise to construct this road, we have started and we would ensure it is completed for your use.
“With our counterparts, we will open up about 540 km of roads. This is just about 13 km from that. The people should expect it.
“For me, opening up the rural areas is a promise we made which we will ensure we keep. I have said I want to be remembered as the governor that opened up the rural areas,” he said.
The governor, who attributed the delay experienced on the construction of the road to constant rainfall, assured residents of the community of his administration’s determination to complete the road project.
Akeredolu also promised to build a school for the community which had been without any since the existence of the area.
Earlier, Mr Victor Olabimtan, Special Adviser to Governor Akeredolu on Community and Rural Development, said the project was in fulfilment of the present administration’s commitment to delivery of democracy dividends to the people.
He also thanked residents of the community for the support given those handling the project which had assisted in the progress made so far.
Also speaking, Oba Ahmed Otaro, the traditional ruler of Molege community, applauded the governor for fulfilling his promise of constructing the road.
The monarch, while appealing for the completion of the road project, also canvassed the construction of a school for the community. (NAN)
AYOD/ OJO
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)