Follow Us on Google
From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
As a part of its efforts to make safe water available to the majority of its residents across the State, the Kaduna State Government is considering concession of its water distribution chain to meet Sustainable Development Goals for safe water for all by 2030.
If that is done seamlessly, it will reduce wastage, billing errors, make safe water available for the residents, increase employment, and increase the internally generated revenue drive of the State Government.
Speaking while hosting the team of the World Bank supported Nigeria Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (SURWASH) Programme in his office, Commissioner, Public Works and Infrastructure, Kaduna State, Ibrahim Hamza promised the readiness of the concerned agencies to make it work.
He said “as the current leader in the Ministry, one of the programmes that excite me is KD-SURWASH because, to me, it has provided us the ample opportunity to key into the programme which is already in its year two.
“I saw the last assessment on our performance and it was awful as far as I’m concerned. I have spoken to the concerned team to ensure we do the necessary things this time around and as a one-time Commissioner of Water Resources, I’m not a novice in the water sector.
“So, we have set up a committee where we meet every week to make sure things are in order. We have come up with modalities to ensure we get it right. By the grace of God, within the next three to six months, Kaduna State will be where it belongs.
“We have started looking outward. Yes, produce the water and transmit it to the reservoirs. The distribution is the bane of our problem now and we are going to change our concept whereby we will produce the water, we transmit it and then you will come and buy.
“That means we will concession that aspect of distribution. If you come and buy as a businessman, you will ensure it gets to the right places where you are supposed to sell. That will help us address two things; billing errors and wastage. So at the end of the day, we will get it right”, he said.
Earlier, Engr Kazeem Muhammed Nafiu who represented the SURWASH National Coordinator said the team’s three-day visit to Kaduna was informed by the unsatisfied performance of the State in the first year of the project.
“There is a $700 million concessional loan. Out of that, $640 million is available in a basket and the amount drawable depends on how fast any of these benefiting states is. For example, this is the second year of the implementation of the programme, and out of the $2.3 million Kaduna State is supposed to draw from the basket, it has drawn only $400,000 so far.
“So, we felt Kaduna can do better which is why we are here to interact with implementing agencies to see what the challenge is and see what we can do to make progress”, he said.
SURWASH is a transformational programme designed towards achieving Nigeria’s goal to ensure all Nigerians have access to sustainable and safely managed WASH services as enshrined in the National Action Plan of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Programme which uses two financing instruments: Investment Project Financing (IPF) for capacity improvements and Programme for Result (PforR), which will drive results generation, became effective in January 2022 and is expected to run in Kaduna, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Katsina, Plateau States till 2027 ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 target.
At the end of its cycle in 2027, it is expected that 6,1 million people will be provided with basic drinking water services, 1,4 million people provided with access to improved sanitation services,
500 Open Defecation Free (ODF) verified communities and 2,000 schools and Health Care Facilities have improved WASH service.
