By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has flagged-off the construction of a 19 kilometer Liman Katagum-Luda-Lekka pilot rural road project awarded at N2.4 billion.
Speaking while flagging off the road at a ceremony held on Monday at Liman Katagum, the Governor said that the project is to be completed within 18 months.
He said that it falls under the World Bank-assisted Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project through its International Development Associations Agency.
The Governor said that although the contract terminates at Lekka covering 19 kilometers, the plan is to eventually continue with the road to connect with Gudum in the industrial area of Bauchi metropolis covering a length of about 24 kms that is currently undergoing detailed engineering designs.
He noted that the RAAMP project has packaged a bundle of carefully selected range of interventions that will spread across the geopolitical zones of the state, to be delivered within the implementation period.
According to him, the intervention covers the provision of six Agro-Logistic centers, upgrade/construction of rural roads, spot improvement of rural roads, backlog maintenance of roads and provision of cross drainages.
“The project has selected the 19 kmsa Liman Katagum – Luda road to showcase the concept while other roads are being prepared across the state for various types of intervention.
“I congratulate the Ministry for Rural Development and Special Duties and the State Project Implementation Unit for successfully and diligently following the World Bank Guidelines to prepare the project and to obtain all clearances for the award of the contract for the pilot road.
“I also commend the Federal Government which is ably represented by the Federal Project Management Unit, the World Bank, and the French Development Association for their continuous support for the effective delivery of the project.
“We are leveraging these supports to focus our attention on rural development by providing connectivity to agricultural marketing and production centers. This would definitely change the micro-indices in favor of the rural populace and improve their livelihood, which would be achieved through the continuous improvement and sustainability of rural roads Infrastructure,” he said.
The added that: “Under the arrangement, the 19Km Liman Katagum Luda Lekka Road would be constructed with 6-meter double coat surface dressing, 1-meter shoulders on both sides, Box culverts of various sizes and numbers together with other complementary cross drainages.
“The contract was awarded through the National Competitive Bidding process of the World Bank to Messrs. H&M Nig. Ltd at the estimated contract sum of N2,420,139,250.54, with a project duration of 18 Months.
“Being a demonstration project, the contract terminates at Lekka 19 kms. However, the plan is to eventually continue with the road to connect with Gudum in the industrial area of Bauchi metropolis covering a length of about 24 kms that is currently undergoing detailed engineering designs.”
Mohammed called on the contractor, the supervisory team and all those directly connected with the project implementation in Bauchi and successfully established a culture of quality project delivery, to high and appropriate standards pointing out that he is not expecting less from this project.
“I will personally come to inspect the road in the night, in the morning, in the night, in the afternoon, at different times of the day, to inspect the project as it progresses. I expect the project to be delivered as scheduled and to standard specification and will not hesitate to sanction the contractor for poor workmanship,” he stated.
The Governor said that the areas to be served by the project will heave a sigh of relief that this long-awaited event has come to fruition, stressing that the event marks another major watershed in the several milestones that his administration has recorded as it moves decisively towards laying a solid infrastructural foundation for the overall development of the state.
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