By YANGE IKYAA
President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that his administration will continue to place priority on infrastructure development, including those for water supply, sanitation and hygiene, towards ensuring better living conditions for Nigerians.
Buhari made the commitment Wednesday in Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, during the commissioning of Zobe Regional Water Supply Scheme.
The President noted that access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are part of the indices for economic development of any nation. He also commended the positive transformation that is currently taking place in the water and sanitation sector which is targeted at meeting the national aspiration of providing portable water to all Nigerians.
In his address at the commissioning ceremony, the minister of water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu, hinted that the execution of the Zobe Regional Water Supply Scheme suffered serious setback for over 25 years as the contract was first awarded in 1992 but got stalled at 45% completion due to neglect and lack of budget support until the advent of this administration.
The Zobe Water Supply Scheme draws water from the Zobe Multipurpose Dam that was commissioned in 1983, with a reservoir capacity of 177 billion liters. The Scheme has been completed to the highest level of quality and has a total design capacity of 75 million liters of water per day to serve an estimated population of over 1,000,000 people resident in Katsina town and 7 outlaying communities, namely Kankia, Kurfi, Kafin–Soli, Karofi, Radda, Charanchi and Bindawa Danmusa. The quality of treated water from the scheme has been subjected to laboratory testing and found to be acceptable within the national and international standards for drinking water.
The minister emphasized that Federal Government’s interventions in water supply are meant to accelerate access to portable water and where such interventions on water facility are completed, the usual practice is for them to be handed over to the State Government, Local Government or Community for operation and maintenance, depending on the nature and size of the facility.
“It is therefore the turn of Zobe Regional Water Supply Scheme to be formally commissioned and handed over to Katsina State Government,” he said.
The governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari, stated that the commissioning of the gigantic water supply project by the Buhari-led administration in a COVID-19 era is quite commendable and a demonstration of the determination of the administration to address the issue of perennial water shortage in Katsina State and other parts of the country.
The Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir Usman, thanked God for the eventual completion and commissioning of the Zobe Water Supply Scheme, after many years of abandonment, and prayed that it will be a source of joy, happiness and progress for all the water users.
In his own remarks, the deputy governor of Katsina State and chairman, Katsina State committee on the take-over of the Zobe Water Supply Project, Mannir Yakubu, appreciated the Federal Government for the completion and handing over of the Scheme to Katsina State government and assured that the state government has already put measures in place to ensure that the standard of the Water Supply Scheme will be maintained at all times.
In a related development, on the same day, the minister commissioned a Special Presidential Intervention Water Supply Project in the Gwaleda Community of Kunchi LGA, Kano State.
