Business
Fadama III: Rivers LGs Share N148.8m
A total of N148,844,989 has been disbursed to farmers by the FADAMA III project in Rivers State, since its inauguration by the state Governor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi on December 10, 2009.
The State FADAMA Project Co-ordinator (SPO), Mr. Kingsley Amadi, disclosed this in Port Harcourt yesterday during the state Fadama Technical Committee meeting.
According to him, the grants were disbursed to 13 out of the 23 Local Governments of Rivers State. The break down of the amount indicates that a total of N6,005,187 went to Ahoada West Local Government Area, N10,257,300 to Ahoada East Local Government Area, Emohua Local Government Area had N36,695,350 topping the list, followed by Gokana Local Government Area with N26,388,016 and Ikwerre Local Government Area with N21, 824,781.
Others are Akuku Toru Local Government Area – N5,164,062, Oyigbo Local Government Area N18, 543,256, Omuma Local Government Area N8,198 425, Etche Local Government Area, N13,281,040, Eleme Local Government Area, N320,000, Degema Local Government Area, N273,840, Okrika Local Government Area, N1,173,482 and Khana Local Government Area had N720,250.
The state co-ordinator said that farmers in the remaining 10 local government areas of the State could not benefit from the disbursement because their council chairmen refused to pay the N2million annual counterpart fund to participate in the project.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Minsitry of Agriculture, Mrs Jokotade Adamu, who is also the chairman of the state Fadama Technical Committee, commended Governor Amaechi for initiating the laudable agriculture project in the state and called on the council chairmen to embrace the project by remitting their counterpart funds to enable the rural farmers benefit.
The perm sec noted that the World Bank has provided sufficient funds to be disbursed to the rural farmers through Fadama III project, saying that for any group of farmers to benefit, both the state and the Local Government Councils have to be up-to-date in the payment of their counterpart funds.