Ahead of commencement of construction works on rural roads in Ekiti State, the State Coordinator of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), Sunday Adunmo, has inaugurated the Grievance Redress Committee (GRC).
He charged the committee not to deviate from its terms of reference.
Adunmo who gave the charge in Ado Ekiti while inaugurating the Grievance Redress Committee on Wednesday stated that its main responsibility is to address grievances that might arise during the implementation of the project in the benefitting communities.
He noted that any crises arising in any of the project sites must be well managed as failure to do so might result in an automatic stoppage of all project sites located in the state.
The project coordinator, who noted that there might be agitations from farmers whose farms would be affected by construction works, assured that work would not begin until compensation is paid to identified farm owners.
Adunmo who stressed the need to resolve complaints and grievances related to the RAAMP project, urged the committee to be fair to all and handle the responsibility conscientiously as the success of the project depends on the support from benefitting communities.
The project coordinator urged the committee to sensitise the benefiting communities on certain areas of construction especially right of way which many farmers may misunderstand.
The five-member GRC members are the State Project Implementation Unit are the State Project Coordinator, Hon Sunday Adunmo; the Social Safeguard Officer, Mrs Bukola Ezieke; the Gender Based Violence (GBV) Officer, Mrs Bunmi Adeosun; the Environmental Safeguard Officer, Bukola Olukoya and the Development Communication Officer, O’Seun Ogunsakin.
Earlier, the Social Safeguard Officer, Ezieke, had inaugurated the GRC in the 13 benefitting communities, with a charge to treat grievances confidentially, impartially, and transparently.
She said since GRM is a tool for preventing any form of crisis that could hinder the success of the project, the community-based GRC members must work to ensure prompt response to the needs of all complainants.
The communities where the social safeguard officer inaugurated GRM committees are Omisanjana and Igirigiri in Ado Ekiti, Erinmope Ekiti, Ikere Ekiti, Afolu in Ise Ekiti, Osi Ekiti, and Emure Ekiti.