The Project Coordinator of Ekiti State Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (EK-RAAMP) Hon. Sunday Adunmo has disclosed that rural communities in the State would soon experience massive construction of rural roads following the inclusion of the State in the World Bank co-sponsored project.
Speaking with newsmen in Ado Ekiti, Hon Adunmo said the State Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi had last year flagged off construction work on six pilot roads which were requisite for the State to be added to the Project which now has 19 participating States.
The Project Coordinator said work was in top gear to ensure the completion of these roads even as asphalt laying had begun on one of the six roads.
While allaying fears over the continuity of the RAAMP programme in the State following the transition of the Fayemi-led administration, Adunmo said the Governor- Elect, Biodun Oyebanji was part of the Fayemi-led administration which initiated Ekiti’s inclusion in RAAMP; adding that Oyebanji had severally expressed readiness to make rural road construction a key component of the administration’s agricultural development agenda.
Justifying Oyebanji’s stance, the Project Coordinator said the RAAMP initiative would transform the State economy by providing motorable road access to farms and connecting them to market hubs with the aim of curbing losses experienced by farmers as a result of poor road network.
Adunmo said the ongoing construction of cargo airport in Ado Ekiti would be of immense benefit to the RAAMP project as the State would ensure maximum use of the airport for transporting farm produce to other States and countries.
He disclosed that in a couple of months, the State would begin construction of many rural roads and market hubs with the aim of making agriculture a lucrative business for farmers and making Ekiti State the food basket of the South West Nigeria.
The State RAAMP is targeting construction of 1000km of rural roads across the 16 local government areas of the Statem