- FG completes 38 irrigation, 458 water supplies scheme, 37 dams
By Egena Sunday Ode
Seven states, including Bauchi, Delta, Ekiti, Imo, Katsina, Kaduna and Plateau are to benefit from the first tier of the World Bank $700 million for specific water projects in the country.
The states will access between $50 to $60 million having met the criteria set up by the World Bank for the loans.
Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu featured at the weekly ministerial press briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team on Thursday said: “Some certain criteria were set up by the World Bank and us. And the states had to meet this eligible criteria. And the projects are submitted into tier one and tier two. Tier one are for those that will get a substantial amount, maybe $50, $60 million for the urban schemes.
“For the P-WASH (Plan – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Action Plan, is the rural component and it is going to the state specifically. Some are going as grant while some of it is going to some specific projects. And like I said, there are eligibility criteria that states ought to have met, it is not all the 36 states. There are conditions attached on which basis this money is going to be disbursed.
“So the whole thing has not been finalized yet, but what we have is an approval in general from the World Bank specifically for this, there’ll be some realignments here and there and that’s something that we’re going to be working on between our ministry, Ministry of Finance and the World Bank.”
According to the minister, the Federal Government is working on 116 ongoing and abandoned projects in the ministry. He added, however, that 38 irrigation, 458 water supply schemes and 37 dams and reservoires have been completed.
Adamu also stated that the days were over when the Federal Government was playing Father Christmas in terms of providing water projects in states.
He announced that the maximum commitment to states henceforth will be 30 percent as it’s been discovered that some states are deliberately laidback and unwilling to do their parts in maintaining projects sited in their states.
The Minister cited the case of Bayelsa State where N6 billion Otuoke water project meant to serve 13 communities of 120,000 people was locked up by the state government because it claimed it cannot afford to pay the N2 or N3 million a month to provide diesel, pay for staff and chemicals.
On controversies surrounding the National Water Resources Bill currently before the National Assembly, Adamu regretted that misinformation on the bill was deliberately being sent out for political reasons, insisting, however, that government had taken a firm decision to regulate the water delivery system, as no data exists to effectively reform the sector.
He said: “We’re still working with the National Assembly on this bill. I think probably they were so engrossed with the PIB and the electoral bill, which are of course, serious national priorities, and they were not able to come to talk about it.
“But already, we have done all the things that needed to be done. The issue that was raised, the technical issue about gazetting had been addressed. So the bill is still before the National Assembly.
“Obviously, I have said so much about this bill, people have been deliberately misinformed. The bill was deliberately politicised unnecessarily, something that is good for the development of the country. And in any case, 96, 97 percent of the provisions in that bill are already existing in four different laws. Water Resources Act 2004, Nigeria Hydrological Services Act, River Basin Development Authorities Act, and the National Water Resources Institute Act.
“The first purpose of bringing this bill was to put all these bills under one booklet, instead of having four separate laws, just consolidate them into one statute. That is number one. Number two, is that Nigeria, like all other countries in the world has adopted the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management. And that is why today we’re enjoying the category two UNESCO centre of Integrated River Basin Management that is based in Kaduna, it is a centre of excellence, funded by UNESCO to promote integrated River Basin Management and we are getting people from all parts of West Africa region to come and learn about River Basin management there.
“So on the basis of that, powers that were hitherto vested in the Minister of Water Resources, are being devolved to the communities, to stakeholders within the basins. And what this means is that whereas on the basis of the Water Resources Act that is existing, I as Minister can’t determine where any project can be put without any recourse to anybody. “
