Kano govt blames Ganduje over perennial water crisis

From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

The Kano State government said it inherited moribund and vandalized water works worth multi naira from the previous administration of former governor Abdullahi Ganduje and the genesis of perennial water crisis experienced in the state.

The facilities included, the first Kano water works built in 1930 and the water works built by the former governor, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in 2016 which was situated in Challawa.

The State Commissioner of Water Resources, Hon. Haruna Doguwa stated this during a tour of the facilities alongside journalists in the state.

Doguwa said the facilities were functional uptil 2016 when the Ganduje administration took over and abandoned the facilities.

The Commissioner who lamented over the extent of the vandalization, also said water pipes covering about 12km which supply water from the Kano river to the water works (pumping station) were uprooted while the control room and raw pumps were vandalized and carted away.

Doguwa said it will cost the government a rough estimation of $10 million to fix the rots.

According to him, “the first water works was built in 1930 and commissioned during the late Emir of Kano, Abdullahi Ado Bayero and was functional uptil 2016, but was vandalized by the previous administration of Abdullahi Ganduje.

“The vandalization on the facility (first Kano water works) is at the cost of $3.5 million. Since the vandalization of the facility which has capacity of 20million litres pay day, a lot of areas in the state were faced with perennial water crisis.

“This is where the problem of perennial water crisis emanated from. They vandalized everything and now people are suffering from their own sins.

“The Intel 6 (water works) which was conceived and built by the then former governor, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has capacity of supply of 350 million litres per day. It supplies 50% of water consumption in Kano State. It was sad and unfortunate that as early as 2016, the facility was intentionally and systematically vandalized, the pumps which cost at least N500 million per one were sold out.

“At least, Kano needs 700 million cubic meters of water per day. We are currently supplying close to 300 million cubic meters per day. When we put all the water works back to work, we will be able to supply 500 million cubic meters water per day and we still have a gap of 200 million. And that is why government is trying to expand the Wudil and Joda. The current administration is working round the clock to fix the rots as we have procured the vandalized pumps and preparing to install them,” Doguwa however stated.

Shedding more light on the development, the Managing Director, Kano State Water Board, Garba Ahmed said the vandalization of the water works and equipments was responsible for the acute water shortage experienced in the state.

He mentioned some of the places experiencing water crisis to include, Dorayi, Kofar Pompo, Kabuga Rijiyar Zaki, Janguza, BUK, Goron Dutse among others.

Meanwhile, in the related development, the Commissioner, Doguwa met with leadership of tanker drivers and water vendors in the state, on the need for a fixed price for tank of water and jerrican to ensure fixed price of water to avoid exorbitant prices and exploitation of the residents.

The Commissioner however, handed an ultimatum of seven days to the leadership to agree on a price tag in the state.