Kaduna Underground Water Infrastructure Over 100yrs, Says Corporation MD

0
541
Kaduna


By; ALEX UANGBAOJE, Kaduna

The Managing Director of Kaduna State Water Corporation (KADSWAC), Comrade Sanusi Maikudi, on Tuesday said that one of the major challenges facing the corporation is aging infrastructure.

There has been an alarming water shortage in Kaduna since the first quarter of the year, which has led to residents asking questions and looking for solution to the challenge posed by water shortage.

Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF), recently hosted a media roundtable meeting with journalists and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on Climate and Environmental Reporting, where the issue of water scarcity was raised as a major concern among other issues of environmental degradation and climate change.

Speaking when he hosted a the AMDF’s team who paid him an advocacy visit, KADSWAC MD, disclosed that the underground infrastructure of the corporation is well over 100 years old.

“We are founded in the 1920s, by 2020, we became 100yrs old, so all our underground infrastructure are still the same. Like the original pipes, their lifespan is 40yrs with the moratorium of 10yrs, so you can use them for 50yrs maximum. So if they had been installed in 1930, by 1980 they should have gone, between 1980 and 2022 you have 42yrs in arrears, so it is an inherited challenge.” He said.

On the issues affecting adequate water supply in the state, Maikudi, noted that any industry that depends on importation, anytime there is foreign exchange volatility, it affects production.

According to him, “over 90% of our inputs are imported, water treatment, chemicals, machineries, pipes, transformers, aluminum conductors, even simple equipment in the labs are all imported.

“And then power supply, power is inadequately supplied and is very expensive. You need energy to work and you want to switch to solar energy, the initial cost of investment is very large.

“And there is demographic explosion in Nigeria, when I was in secondary school the population of Nigeria was 80m and now we are over 200m.”

He however, revealed that the government is working on a project that will make water supply sufficient in the state that will give  birth to a new ultramodern water treatment plant, while the corporation is working to improve it’s services.

“We have a project called “Greater Kaduna”, the new population of Kaduna was assessed, it was determined that for us to do justice to water supply, we need a new dam, and a site has been identified in Kajuru LGA.

“So the FG has agreed to build a new multipurpose dam, the name of the project is “Greater Kaduna Metropolitan Water Supply and Sanitation project”.

“With the new dam, Kaduna State government has agreed to build a new ultramodern water treatment plant with a capacity of 300m litres per day.

“The multipurpose dam will provide power, irrigation, tourism and water supply, Kaduna State will take one of the four services of the dam to do water treatment plant and the treatment plant will be constructed close to the dam, so that all the villages on the way will get water before it gets to the center, the reason is if you bring it to the center to process, you to take it back to them.

“Each neighborhood like, Sabo, Makera and Rigassa will have their own reservoir, it is a comprehensive plan. AFDB and Islamic bank have agreed to work with the state government and the FG to actualise it.” He explained.

The project according to him, will cost one billion dollars, saying “the money is there waiting and the partners have agreed, once the design is revised, the contract will be awarded.”

He appreciated AMDF for the visit adding that his expectation is to see a mutually beneficial outcome at the end of the engagement; where knowledge is shared and areas of collaboration developed, and also identify areas of capacity building and information sharing. Saying “you are doing a strategic work in the sector you have selected and that is noble to us.”

Earlier in his address, the Executive Director of AMDF, Mr. Iliya Kure, told their host that they are at the agency to identify critical areas of collaboration that would add value to the overall work of the Corporation that will have long time impact.

He emphasized that it important that journalists have access to importance data in the corporation that can help them write a well informed stories.

“If journalists don’t understand this things well, they will not pass the right information. So if they get it right, a lots of changes will be seen in the society.” Mr. Iliya added.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here