Abia To Enjoy $5m World Bank Grant

About 59 rural communities in Abia will benefit from a five million dollar World Bank Assisted Rural Development Project in the state over the next four years.

General Manager of Abia State Agency for Community and Social Development Projects (CSDP), Mr Chinatu Njoku  told newsmen on Tuesday in Umuahia that N153 million of the amount had been disbursed to the beneficiary communities.

He said the beneficiaries were drawn from Bende, Isiala Ngwa North and South, Ikwuano, Ohafia and Umuahia North local government areas of the state which had met the criteria set for accessing the grant.

Njoku said that communities in 11 other local government areas of the state would also benefit as soon as they satisfied the conditions.

“We have disbursed N153 million direct to the rural communities and are monitoring what they do with the money based on their local needs.

“We don’t interfere in their choice of projects because we adopt community-driven development approach in the execution of the projects.

“What we do is to appraise what they submit and recommend for funding if it meets the standard of the Agency as well as the Local Government Review Committee (LGRC),” he said.

Njoku said that many of the communities that received the grant had completed their projects and others had since started the second phase of the projects.

He said that 33 micro projects had so far been completed while 43 were still on.

“We have 33 completed micro projects and 43 ongoing projects scattered across the state.

“Some of the completed projects include  civic halls, skill acquisition centres, electrification projects, public toilets, among others,” he said.

Njoku said that the grant from the World Bank was a far cry from the needs of the communities.

“As I am talking to you, we have over 400 applications and more are coming.

“The five million dollar grant by the World Bank is for the entire state and covers a period of four years and the amount is a far cry as far projects in the state are concerned,” he said.

He advised the state government to intervene by providing additional funds to enable other communities to key into the project.

“One of the conditions for a community to benefit from the grant is that such community must come from a local government that has fulfilled the effectiveness conditions of CSDP.

“One of such conditions is that the local government must pass the bye-law, establish Local Government Review Committee (LGRC) and open up Local Government Desk Office.

“Once they fail to do that the Agency cannot intervene,” he said.

Njoku expressed regret that one of the constraints facing the agency was the ineffectiveness of the LGRC across the entire local government areas.

“Our problem is functionality. The LGRCs are not functional. The facilities are not there for the officers and that is why we keep talking to these local government areas,” Njoku said.