By Abubakar Usman Aliyu
The direct involvement of government in the revitalization of Nigeria’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene through the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) programme has proven that it is a veritable tool towards canvassing for deveuulopments that are beneficial to the people.
The project, initiated by the federal government, in partnership with the World Bank, is a $700 million programme aimed at providing protection for human health, supporting economic growth in the short-term, mid and long-term for sustainable, inclusive economic recovery that would improve livelihood of the poor and the vulnerable.
The project development objective of SURWASH is to strengthen access to water supply, sanitation and hygiene and also strengthen WASH policies and institutions in the participating states.
The programme consists of a hybrid approach to financing by utilizing a Programme-for-Result (PforR) component, and an additional $60m investment financing instrument that will be used to facilitate technical assistance for states and selected implementing institutions to address critical institutional development.
The programme would be applied to provide basic drinking water to 6.1 million people, access improved sanitation to 1.4 million people, provide water supply, sanitation and hand washing to 2,000 schools and health facilities, and supporting at least 500 communities to achieve and maintain community wide open defecation free plus status.
Under the PforR component, participating states are expected to fund projects from their state budgets and all such projects are to be verified by an independent verification agent before reimbursement by the World Bank.
The rural and small towns water supply programme aims to support infrastructural development to help improve sustainable access to improved water supply through the development of new and the rehabilitation of existing water points and schemes.
The seven states that are to benefit in this instance are Gombe, Delta, Ekiti, Imo, Katsina, Kaduna and Plateau states, and, Gombe state, through the efforts of Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, has met all the needed eligibility criteria for participation. Already, the state has set up a project implementation comittee and a state steering committee has been inaugurated to be chaired by the state’s Commissioner for Water Resources in partnership with agencies such as RUWASSA, GSWB, and GOSEPA. The Gombe State Government has made adequate arrangements for a built framework which can now be expanded and work hard to meet target, and the state administration, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, is working hard to link both the rural and the urban settlements in Gombe State with water, sanitation and hygiene.
• Engr. Usman Abubakar Aliyu is the Gombe State Project Coordinator of SURWASH