Bauchi govt set to provide 75million litres of water daily for residents

Ongoing $65m World Bank funded Greater Bauchi water project when completed will generate water capacity of 75 million litres  daily to meet the water demands of the population of the state metropolis and other adjoining suburbs.

The disclosure was made by the General Manager of Bauchi State Water Board, Mr Aliyu Gital who said that the project was embarked upon in order to ameliorate the scarcity of water supply in the metropolis due to increased population.

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The General manager stated this when the State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir paid an inspection visit to the water facility in continuation of his visits to all ongoing of projects across the state.

According to the General manager, the expansion of the Greater Bauchi water project which started in February 2015, will be completed by the end of March 2021, adding that by the time the project was completed, it will meet the demands of over 2 million people in the metropolis and other adjoining villages up til the year 2027.

Aliyu Gital said that, “We were able to expend the sum $58 million before the end of the project. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was to be closed by June last year, it was extended to December last year and then extended by another three months, that is March this year.”

“We matchly overcame all the challenges and we are confident that the project will be completed by the end of this month.We just have one outstanding supply of six number hydraulic pumps, these pumps are in Lagos and are being cleared,” he said. 

While Responding, the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed said that the Bauchi water project started with a world bank loan of $65 million, adding that when the present PDP administration came into inception in 2019, because of the inertness of the previous administration, everything was at the ground breaking level.

The Governor added that, “I am very happy with this project, I must thank the world bank for looking at the COVID 19 and what we lacked in the tenure of this loan which is almost three years. We came at the nick of time when it was only six months left and we have not done ten percent”.

He however said that, “Within a period of two years, I must commend the management and the world bank for giving us the assistance to look inwards and rearrange the channel for another one year,” he said.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE