To bring succour to the lowly placed and those with various levels of impairments, the World Bank in collaboration with the Enugu State Government has earmarked over N60 million for provision of boreholes, roads and electricity, among others, for gender and vulnerable groups in six communities in the state.
General Manager of the Enugu State Community and Social Development Project (CSDP), Dr Maximus Asogwa, disclosed this recently while formally presenting the first tranche of the fund for the projects for the gender and vulnerable groups which included widows, orphans and People Living With Disabilities (PLWD).
According to him, over N22 million was disbursed as first tranche of the Fund to the Gender and Vulnerable Group (GVG) by the General Manger at the event. Asogwa listed the benefiting groups as: Mbu in Isiuzo Local Government Area, Umuigbo, Amurri in Nkanu West Local Government Area, In God We Trust at Umuogbuagu in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area , Ameke-Oduma in Aniniri Local Government Area, Chidera at Ezineri/Ezinese Mgbidi in Agwu Local Government Area and Amanasato-Oduma in Aninri Local Government Area of the state.
He said the present administration in the state would continue to accord priority to the welfare of the people, saying that it was as a result of it that the state government keyed into the World Bank projects to provide succour to the rural communities.
“The beneficiaries should make judicious use of the project funds and execute the projects within time frame. The World Bank and the state government have zero tolerance to corruption.
“Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) is a World Bank Assisted project that promotes Community Driven Development. The project is co-financed by the Federal Government and 30 participating states of which Enugu State is one of them.”
Earlier, the management of CSDP in the state had held a training workshop at Cordial Hotel, Enugu for members of Group Project Management Committee (GPMC) of benefitting communities. Participants including widows, disables, orphans, handicapped, elderly/old people, people living with HIV/AIDS, children with broken homes, destitute, were drawn from different communities in the state.
It was also observed that responsibilities of beneficiaries, contribution of counterpart fund (cash or kind), the need for active participation in execution, supervision of the CSDP projects topped the discussion at the workshop with roles and responsibilities of stakeholders by Damian Udegbunam
Another Speaker from the CSDP stable was Mr. Ishiwu Ifeanyi ( Procurement Officer) who warned against against fraud during the execution of the projects. He advised on the need for accountability and transparency and advertising the quotation of the project in major streets and market square of the benefitting community for quality work to be executed by competent contractors.
Also, the Finance and Administration Manager, Anthony Onu spoke on management and effective utilisation of funds as well as sound financial management which he said was critical to project implementation, hence the achievement of the desired goals in various Gender and Vulnerable Groups in the state.
“Budget for the project should be followed strictly with internal control and accounting of funds flows. Responsibility should be shared for checks and accountability”, he added.
Source: sunnewsonline
