The coordinator of World Bank’s N1.4 billion contract, awarded for the construction of 132 bridges in Kaduna State, Mr Musa Tete, has said that 80 per cent the project has been done.
Tete, who oversees the Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP) in Kaduna State, made this known yesterday, while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna.
He said that 112 river crossing bridges across the 23 local government areas of the state had been completed while 30 projects, including the construction of culverts and bridges, were still ongoing.
He, however, identified some causes of the delay in the projects’ completion as the recent post-election violence in some parts of the state and the fragile peace in some areas.
He said that other causes included “the lackadaisical attitude’’ of some contractors who failed to deliver projects at the stipulated time.
Tete, however, gave the assurance that the 30 ongoing projects were being executed in line with the World Bank’s rural development specifications and said that the bridges would link several communities with urban and sub-urban centres, adding the project was aimed at facilitating the effective transportation of farm produce to various markets.
The coordinator said that the project would also help in eradicating poverty, enhancing food security and building the foundation for sustainable economic development.
Besides, Tete said that the project would engender the rapid development of rural areas, as the bulk of the state’s wealth was being derived from agriculture and other natural resources in the rural areas.
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