Oyo govt plans bill for establishment of rural access roads agency

Oyo State Government has expressed its readiness to approve the Executive Bill for the establishment of Rural Access Roads Agency (RARA) for the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) implementation, maintenance and sustainability in the state.

The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Adeniyi Adebisi, disclosed this, yesterday, at a one-day stakeholders’ workshop on road sector reform organised by RAAMP in conjunction with Federal Project Implementation Unit (FPMU) and World Bank in Ibadan.

Adebisi said that the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration prioritised the rural development programme in the state, adding that those programmes would enhance the welfare of the people at grassroots level.

The commissioner maintained that the major concern of the present administration in the state is to create a solid platform that will be an all-inclusive system of government that will transform rural dwellers.

He said that the government paid the counterpart-fund to provide good roads that would link state’s roads for easy movement of farm produce through the implementation of the RAAMP project.

Besides, he said since the sector reform policy of RARA was to ensure sustainability of RAAMP roads after the expiring life-span of the project, the Oyo State government would do everything within its capacity to ensure RARA is passed into law in the state.

MEANWHILE, Special Adviser to the Governor on Intervention, who also doubles as the Focal Person on RAAMP project, Aderonke Adedayo, said that the huge amount of money expended on the activities would be much more justified if the project outcome and impacts are maintained and sustained in the state.

Adedayo urged the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) for RAAMP to judiciously strive more for the success of the project in the state.

In his remarks, National Coordinator of RAAMP, Aminu Bodinga, said that the sector reform was designed to have a robust institution backed by law after the exit of the development partners of RAAMP in Oyo State, adding that this will give the state government capacity to ensure sustainability and maintenance of the RAAMP roads.