The federal government has commissioned the Central Ogbia Water Supply Scheme, in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, at a total cost of N5,886,927,480 only.
The Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, said; “This is the first project that is being commissioned by the Ministry of Water Resources in nearly 60 years, so it’s very important to us and it’s just a good sign that we are going to continue to do more with the available resources.
We have done a technical audit of all the projects, prioritized them and now it’s for us to work out a plan based on the current budget guidelines so as to be funding the projects gradually.
We might not be able to finish them quickly because of the economic recession, but I can assure you that we are laying more emphasis on inherited and ongoing projects than new ones.”
“We will do new projects only where we think they are very strategic in nature or they are going to address certain emergencies, but we think our hands are full enough that we should concentrate on ongoing projects and try to finish them. Others are projects that have to do with meeting the needs of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
I am not saying there won’t be any new projects, but I am saying they have to be very strategic, so that we concentrate a lot of efforts on all of the inherited projects in such a way that we do not lose the investments that was earlier made,” he added.
