Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has reiterated his administration’s commitment towards improving the living conditions of citizens living in both rural and urban areas.
Mohammed was speaking yesterday when he flagged off the construction of 19 kilometres of Liman Katagum-Luda-Leka road with the support of the World Bank, where he assured the people that Bauchi under his leadership has witnessed massive changes in the area of education, roads, health, agriculture and roads network.
While commending the World Bank for its interventions, Mohammed said his administration has generated resources and constructed rural and urban roads across the state; adding that; “I will soon embark on constructing additional smooth roads for the safety of motorists and economic development of the state.
He added that the Liman Katagum-Luda-Leka road, when completed, will provide lasting solutions to problems farmers and merchants have been facing over years, in addition to providing them with access to basic social amenities for better living.
According to the governor; “The project is the Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) that has brought us to this happy milestone, which was under preparation when we assumed office in 2019, fits perfectly into the road infrastructure vision of our administration.
“The five-year project is to be implemented in 18 states of the federation, including Bauchi in collaboration with the World Bank through contributions from the International Development Association (IDA) to the tune of $280 million and the French Development Agency (AFD) to the tune of $230 million. The 18 participating states of the federation are to contribute about $65 million.”
“Satisfied that the Project Development Objective (PDO), which is aimed at providing access roads in rural areas of the state to boost agricultural marketing in a sustainable manner, was in keeping with our own thinking, we wasted no time in increasing the momentum of the project.
The governor explained further that under the arrangement, the 19km liman-Katagum-Luda-Lekka road would be constructed with 6-metre 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 Nigeria Limited at the estimated contract sum of N2, 420,139,250.54 with a project duration of 18 months.