Mr Razak Salawu, the South-West Project Coordinator of Fadama III, has attributed the slow implementation of the project in the region to the inability of some states  to pay the required counterpart fund.

Salawu said  in Ijebu-Ode on Monday  that without the required counterpart fund, the project  could not be implemented as fast as it should.  “ One of the problems facing the implementation of  Fadama III project is from the government itself.

“ Some states and local governments have not been able to pay the required counterpart fund for the implementation of the project. “Though the project is on course right now but each state differs in the process of implementation because of the delay in payment  of the counterpart fund by  states and local governments.

“The World Bank, in giving out the project, stated that each state has to pay a certain amount as a counterpart fund for the implementation of the projects.

“ Some states  and local governments in the South-West, however,  have not be able to meet  that  expectation and that is why some states move faster than the others, ‘’ Salawu said.

He appealed to the affected states and local governments to assist in the implementation of the project by paying up the required counterpart fund.

Salawu also lamented the inability of   Fadama Community User Group to meet up with  the part payment of the requested project cost.

He said the Fadama  project was always ready to implement any project as requested by the registered user group in the community.

Salawu pointed out that for any project to be executed on the request of a user group, it  would pay a certain percentage of the project cost while the Fadama initiative  would pay the rest.

The coordinator said  some communities  had not be meeting up with the payment, adding  that over eight million dollars drawn from the World Bank had so far been spent on the Fadama  III project in the South-West states.