JGSG Spend Millions Of Naira On Water Supply

By Umar Akilu Majeri, Dutse

The Jigawa State government has spent over Ninety five million naira to adequately supply water to people living in small towns across the 27 local government areas of the state.

This was disclosed by the managing director Jigawa State Small Town Water Supply Agency, STOWA, Engineer Adamu Garba, in an exclusive interview with our reporter in his office.

Garba explained that in the first quarter of this year that the Jigawa State government has spent over ninety five million Naira (N95m) on conversion of motorised scheme with solar water scheme with a view to boosting the supply of water in all the small towns across Jigawa State.

He added that the government is planning to spend about forty million naira (N40m) for reticulation of all the motorized water scheme in the state while the sum of N200m will be spent across the 27 local government areas to rehabilitate the water scheme projects in small towns.

“This year we anticipate to build 12 solar water scheme conversion and rehabilitate and construct 7 new ones across the state but due to the menace of covid-19 pandemic we were able to construct eleven new solar schemes and upgrade 12 Soler water schemes across the state,” Engineer Garba said.

When commenting on the challenges, the Managing Director accused the community, saying “sometime people in the community do not take care of water schemes; they do not take them as their property that is why sometime thieves use that opportunity to steal water equipment.”

He therefore charged people living in the communities to take care of all water equipment as it is their property, explaining that over 400 motorised water schemes are now fully rehabilitated and upgraded about 135 motorized water schemes to solar water schemes across the 27 local government areas of the state.

He added that now the state government has constructed 400 new solar water projects in the state in which the state has over 1000 water schemes for both Solar and motorised water schemes in the state.

He then assured that very soon the state will award a water scheme contract to various contractors who specialise in water projects worth over N175.9m for the construction of 12 motorized water schemes and seven new solar water schemes with a view to providing potable drinking water across the state.