Ekiti: 95 Communities Receive Cheques To Execute Self-Help Projects 95 communities in Ekiti State have been given grants to execute various projects in their domains under the Grants-in-Aid scheme. While handing over the cheques to the benefiting communities, the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said upon the inauguration of his administration, he had promised to work with the people and not for them, hence the decision to create the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment to serve as the voice of the people at the grassroots. According to the governor, the mandate of the ministry is also to ensure the transformation of rural communities. He said the next phase of the Grant-in-Aid programme would be the industrial development of rural communities, adding that his government will also create cottage industries. Governor Fayemi further said that apart from the grants for self-help projects, his government had also met with leaders of cooperative societies in April this year to fashion out ways of using the societies to engender development at the rural level. Cooperative societies are veritable tools to empower people at the grassroots to create wealth. The Cooperative Day celebrtaion will take place before the end of this year, he said. He announced that his government was constructing 5 kilometres of rural roads at Orin Farm Settlement, an 8 metre-span bridge at Ibejisitu at Emure and had also set aside the sum of N592, 581, 588 to carry out rural projects such as construction of bridges, 72 culverts, amongst others. Another N60 million, he said, had also been set aside for the drilling of 40 boreholes across the state. The Commissioner for Rural Development, Mr. Folorunso Olabode, said having realised the special peculiarities of the rural areas and the need to speed up rural development, the State Government created the Ministry of Rural Development. He said the strategic stakeholders identified so far are community groups and that the first phase recorded tremendous success which had led to improvement in the socio-economic development of the people at the grassroots, especially through the construction of markets. He said the projects had also led to improvement in the living standard of traditional rulers through the renovation of their palaces and had increased the confidence and trust reposed in the Fayemi administration. While imploring the kabiyesis to monitor the projects, Mr. Olabode said all the projects must be completed and ready for commissioning in the next 90 days, adding that only people in the benefiting communities must be employed as labour by the contractors.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 18:04:02 +0000
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