NAN-H-58
Infrastructure
Akure, Aug. 29, 2017 (NAN) Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, said on Tuesday that his administration was determined to bridge the gap between the urban and rural centres in the state in the provision of infrastructure.
Akeredolu who said this in Akure at a stakeholders’ meeting on the 3rd Rural Access Mobility Project (RAMP 3 stressed the importance access roads to rural communities in propelling development.
He said that his administration would support entrepreneurship, improve delivery of basic social services and ensure sustainability of environment and natural resources.
“We are convinced that there can be no meaningful development in the polity until the rural environment enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the urban centres,’’ he said.
The governor said that jobs would be created in the rural areas when they became accessible.
Akeredolu said RAMP 3 was very crucial to his administration’s rural development strategy, which aimed at providing good roads to rural communities in sustainable ways.
He also said that RAMP 3 would create an investment-friendly and competitive environment that would create employment for youths.
“To achieve the above, our government will be quick to approve a template for executing appropriate designs, rehabilitation, upgrading and maintenance programme,’’ he said.
Earlier, Mr Ubandoma Ularamu, National Project Coordinator, RAMP, said Ondo State was among the states to benefit from RAMP 3.
Ularamu said RAMP 3, a Federal Government initiative, was supported by the World Bank and the French Development Agency.
“We have a target of 500 kilometer of roads to be constructed with a portfolio of about $60 million under the new projects,’’ he said.
He said that the programme keyed into the agricultural production policy of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to promote exports.
Also, Mr Zaccheus Olorunnegan, State Coordinator, RAMP 3, said the programme was anchored on the federal government’s Rural Travel and Transport Policy (RTTP).
Olorunnegan said that the components of RAMP 3 were tailored toward radical support and intervention in the provision of rural transport infrastructure.
He said the programme would enhance economic performance of rural communities in strategically-prioritised areas in the state. (NAN)
AYO/AJA/EMO
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Edited by Adeleye Ajayi/Ejike Obeta