Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said his administration would rehabilitate the old roads connecting agrarian communities in the state to encourage investments in the agricultural sector.
The governor said this when he received a report presented by the Technical Committee on Infrastructural Development, set up to review the state of road network constructed when Edo was under the old Midwestern Region, at Government House in Benin City on Tuesday.
Obaseki lamented that most agrarian communities in the state were disconnected from the Trunk A roads constructed by the federal government, and this he noted has been hampering agricultural activities in the communities.
He said his administration would encourage investment in these communities by reconstructing the old road infrastructure linking the agrarian communities which would be expanded when necessary.
“When the colonial masters designed these roads we inherited, they connected communities because the communities were the economic nerve centers of the then Midwestern region. But with the construction of Trunk A roads, these communities were forcefully relocated and deprived of the huge commercial and economic activities they used to host,” he said.
Obaseki assured that the old roads would be given priority attention when the state commences road reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the dry season.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Engr. Erasmus Osahon, said the committee was set up in January to inspect all the old roads linking communities in the state.
Osahon listed the existing old roads as Benin-Lagos, Benin-Agbor, Benin-Akure-Sobe, Benin-Abraka, Benin-Auchi-Okene and Benin-Sapele.
He added that a common feature of the identified roads is the vast adjoining land suitable for agricultural purposes.
