The Akwa Ibom State Coordinator of the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (AKS-RAAMP), Pastor Gideon Akpan, has highlighted the unique ecological and rainfall challenges of the state for consideration by the World Bank (WB) and the Federal Project Management Unit (FPMU) in the allocation of intervention funds under the project. He emphasized the relative differences in characteristics among the participating states across the country.
Pastor Akpan made this plea while fielding questions from the WB and FPMU technical mission team last Friday during their two-day working tour of AKS-RAAMP. The National Coordinator of RAAMP, Engr. Aminu Mohammed, was represented by his lead national infrastructure engineer, Engr. Bukar Gana, while the World Bank team was led by Engr. Akintola Babalola.
“I studied Geology and can speak with authority in this regard. The geology of states, from Enugu up north, is not the same as from Enugu down south. The rainy season is always very intense in this part of the country, and the worst affected are the south-south states, particularly Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, etc. We are the only state among these currently in this project that has come thus far. In this area, the use of stone base for road construction has prevailed over laterite due to the intense and protracted rainy season and its impact on the soil. Imagine a road that was paved about fifteen years ago with a stone base, yet when going for rehabilitation, you scrape off the stone base and replace it with laterite. The community would simply pursue you out of the place because your intention would be viewed as making the situation worse than before,” Pastor Akpan explained.
He noted that work on the AKS-RAAMP demonstration road had progressed beyond 65 percent and was likely to be completed ahead of schedule. Four out of the six lots of road contracts under the spot improvement component had been awarded, while one out of the five lots under backlog maintenance had been taken over by the state government for the construction of a dual carriageway.
Under the upgrading component, provision had been made for two roads this year and submitted to FPMU. The Environmental/Social Management Plan (ESMP) and Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for the 11-kilometer Nsie – Uruting road in Okobo Local Government had been cleared by the World Bank, and bids had been advertised for three markets under the agro-logistics centers component.
However, he identified some challenges in implementing the project, including the unfavorable weather conditions in the state, with only about four months of dry season impacting the available time for actual road construction; delays in clearance by the World Bank on safeguards matters; and the increasing rate of inflation in the country.
Responding, the National Coordinator of RAAMP, represented by Engr. Bukar Gana, and Engr. Akintola Babalola, who represented the World Bank, observed the relative cost of road construction in Akwa Ibom compared to states in the northern part of the country. They further questioned the use of a stone base for construction under the project, against the provision for laterite, pointing out that such was beyond the specifications for low-volume roads under RAAMP. Both, however, pledged to look into the issues submitted by the state project coordinator for prompt consideration.
The highpoint of the mission was the technical visit to the AKS-RAAMP demonstration road to assess the standard of physical compliance by the consultants and contractors on-site.
