Stakeholders in Bayelsa State have renewed their push for the speedy passage of two key bills, the Rural Access Road Agency (RARA) and the State Road Fund (SRF), to unlock funding from the World Bank for the Rural Access on Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP).
RAAMP is funded by the World Bank, the French Development Agency, and the federal and state governments. It aims to improve rural access and agricultural marketing across 19 states in Nigeria. Bayelsa is still waiting for full activation pending the passage of the two bills.
Speaking at a Stakeholders Consultative Workshop on Road Sector Reforms held on Tuesday in Yenagoa, the national coordinator of RAAMP, Engineer Aminu Bodinga Mohammed, explained that while many are eager for Bayelsa to be declared effective, sustainability is key.
Represented by Engineer Emmanuel Erabo, Mohammed said that the federal government is working to ensure that roads, bridges, and culverts built under RAAMP last long by establishing a maintenance system from the beginning through these two important bills.
The Bayelsa State coordinator of RAAMP, Dr Paul Ebienfa, explained that the project, which aims to improve rural access and agricultural marketing, is already operational in 19 states.
“Bayelsa is yet to start receiving funds because the legal framework — RARA and SRF — is not yet in place”, he added.
Ebienfa noted that the state has completed road surveys and engineering designs, and has also held sensitisation workshops across the eight LGAs, but progress cannot be made without the legal structure.
Professor Beke Sese, agriculture commissioner, reaffirmed that the state government is fully committed to RAAMP and has already done the groundwork, including selecting 80km of rural roads for development.
He called on the World Bank and the French Development Agency to declare the project effective once the bills are passed. He added that RAAMP’s success would boost farmers’ incomes and help grow the non-oil economy.
He said, “The RAAMP project offers a veritable role of hope to most of our farmers and fishermen, especially those in the hinterlands, who have been grappling with this problem of access—the challenge of bringing their produce to market across the state. While roads are selected to improve rural access, markets have also been selected for improvement to complete the value chain.”
On the legislative side, the House Committee chairman on Information, Dr Wisdom Fafi, who represented the deputy speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Michael Ogbara, promised that the Assembly would give the bills the attention and support they need to pass. He said the lawmakers are entirely on board to help ensure the success of RAAMP in the state.
Also, the commissioner for works and infrastructure, Surveyor Moses Tabowei, highlighted the importance of RAAMP in improving access to rural communities. He said the state government has done a lot to improve road access and promised that his ministry will continue working with RAAMP to ensure Bayelsa fully benefits from the scheme.
“Under the prosperity regime, quite a lot has been done to ensure accessibility to the various communities. The state government is doing a lot in opening our rural communities so that what RAAMP stands for is easily achieved. So, what RAAMP will be doing is to link up other communities not accessible for now”, Tabowei said.
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