By Tosin Kolade
Abuja – The Federal Government has urged the FCT Administration to take ownership of the completed Gurara Water Transfer Project, to ensuring effective access to water by residents of the FCT and its environs.
The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, who made this call when he visited the FCT Minister in Abuja on Wednesday, said this would reduce maintenance cost.
He said the project had been completed for some years now, but there was no concerted effort to take over either by the Abuja Water Board or FCTA.
He said, “What this simply means is that, we have a contract that was hundred per cent completed, but no management.
Adamu said that the Gurara project was initiated basically to feed the Lower Usuma Dam to augment the storage of the Dam, especially during the dry season.
“When I assumed duty in November 2015 and I was briefed on all the ongoing projects, I became very much interested in this project because of the time space that the project had been completed, but that there was nobody to take over.
“I was made to understand that, there was a Joint Committee between the FCTA and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources working out how to take over the project, but not much work had been done.
“Accordingly, we reactivated that Committee and got them to interface with the contractor.
“One of the key issues was that the contractor had been maintaining the pipeline for several years, but had not been paid and nobody had taken over,” he said.
Adamu reiterated the Federal Governments’ commitment to provide access to potable water for all Nigerians, saying that it would go a long way to improving lives and wellbeing.
Responding, the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello called on the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to build more dams in the FCT for agricultural purposes in order to improve the living standard of the residents.
Bello said that the construction of new dams would go a long way in improving economic activities in the rural areas where farming are taking place majorly.
“As you know, Abuja is endowed with a lot of water resources and we have areas that are potential dam locations.
“So, when you review your ongoing projects and you reach a point where you want to carry out new ones, please consider the FCT among your new areas that you want to locate dams.
“This is necessary, particularly those that will enable us open up a lot of areas downstream for agriculture as this is very essential,” he said.
Bello reiterated that the relationship between the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and the FCT Administration had been a very close one and very beneficial for Abuja City and the Territory in general.
The minister said water supply for Abuja and the greater Abuja environment comes from the Lower Usuma Dam could be fed from the Gurara Dam during dry seasons.
According to him, the dam was designed in such a way that Gurara Dam is to provide support at some specific periods in the year with additional raw water supply to be able to cater for the city.
He added that the support was crucial to the FCT, especially as the population expanded and physically, with many districts being opened with enormous water reticulation being done.
“This water supply is done through a pipeline that is about 75 kilometers long, which is quite extensive,” the minister said.