The State Head of Civil Service, Elder Effiong Essien; the Chairman of Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, Evangelist Edidiong Inyang, among other stakeholders have pledged their utmost best to support, cooperate and mobilise sustainable community partnership to ensure the smooth execution and completion of projects undertaken by AKS-RAAMP across Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area.
They made the commitment unanimously during a stakeholders engagement / sensitisation exercise organised by AKS-RAAMP at the community civic center, Afaha Atai – Ibesikpo over the construction of Obot Idim – Afaha Atai and Ikot Ambon – Nung Ette Shelter Afrique roads: both in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, Friday December O6, 2024.
Elder Essien appealed to all the stakeholders passionately on the essence of peace, security of lives and property, synergy and ownership of the projects, describing same as standard practices under donor funded projects. His words: “I have been involved in many World Bank and other donor funded projects for more than twenty years. The jobs are awarded through competitive bidding and would progress thereafter through standard regulatory procedures. We will stop at nothing to mobilise Government Authority against any individual or group that would seek to punctuate the seamless flow of work as far as these jobs are concerned.”
He thanked the State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno for embracing and investing in the project, which had culminated in the listing of communities in Ibesikpo Asutan as beneficiaries, while also commending the World Bank and French Development Agency for floating the scheme.
For AKS-RAAMP, “I am confident in the prowess of the team lead, Pastor Gideon Akpan to deliver on the assignment, having been one of my very promising mentees, currently making us proud through his success stories in the service, AKS-RAAMP and beyond.”
On his part, the Chairman of Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, Evangelist Edidiong Inyang emphasized on delivering the job according to design specifications, as he charged the contractors / consultants against compromising standards. “Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government under my watch will establish a technical supervision team to oversee the jobs with a view to ensuring conformity with specifications in the drawings.”
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On properties along the project’s Right of Way, the chairman ordered that “owners of such properties should vacate / remove same immediately, as the contractors have been empowered to commence work with immediate effect on Monday December 09, 2024. Ibesikpo Asutan must not fail to benefit promptly within the twelve month duration of this project as a result of obstructions along the Right of Way. Owners of those stuff should please take them down immediately for the jobs to start on Monday.”
The State Project Coordinator of AKS-RAAMP, Pastor Gideon Akpan had initially joined the session virtually, following an official assignment at the instance of the Federal Project Management Unit of RAAMP, FPMU outside the state, paying glowing tributes to the State Governor Pastor Umo Bassey Eno over the project and numerous other laudable achievements of the ARISE agenda since assumption of office.
He later made a presentation on “An Overview of RAAMP” through the Project Secretary, Mrs. Peace Henry. “I dedicate this road project to my mentor and Head of Akwa Ibom State Civil Service, Elder Effiong Essien for his personal interest in grooming me to my current career position in the service among other notabilities,” the document read in part.
The coordinator further noted that in addition to the 11 kilometer demonstration road which traverses Ibesikpo Asutan and Nsit Ibom Local Government Areas, construction of 71.166 kilometres of roads were ongoing across various Local Government Areas under the backlog maintenance component of the project; just as contracts for the construction / physical improvements of three markets into standard agro-logistics centers have been awarded across the state. These include Ekponwa market in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area; Atabong beach market in Okobo Local Government Area; and Naira market in Ikono Local Government Area, while contracts for the 12.67 kilometer Nsie – Uruting road as well as the 3.42 kilometer Ananamong – Eboh – Ikot Essien – Nchanebua with spur to Ebo cocoa plantation in Okobo and Ini Local Government Areas had been awarded, among other projects.
Presentations were also made on “Scope of the Project,” by the Technical Assistant on Infrastructure, Engr. Imo Ukpong; “Roles / Responsibilities of the Contractors, Consultants, Communities and AKS-RAAMP,” by the Environmental Safeguards Officer, Dr. NseAbasi Udom.
The session also featured goodwill messages as well as an interactive session for questions and answers to bring all the stakeholders on the same page, ahead of commencement of works for best results.
