Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, disclosed these at the public presentation of the Water Sector Road Map in Abuja. Themed: “Immediate and Long Term Strategies for Water Sector (2016 – 2030),” the minister stated that the roadmap had got the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari since last June. Adamu said that his ministry was fully committed to aligning all future water projects in Nigeria in line with the master plan for sustainability.
The minister stated that the auditing of the on-going projects lent credence to the ministry’s commitment to delivering on its mandate. He, however, complained that some of the on-going projects had been abandoned for up to 15 years. Of the 116 projects initiated, 38 are for irrigation and drainages, 37 for dams, while water supply has 41. Adamu expressed worry why nobody could even raise a query as to why those projects were abandoned for that long.
He stated that the ministry would not work on new projects but focus on completing the ongoing ones. Adamu said the projects had been given priority based on some criteria such as their stage of completion, cost of completion, time of completion and envisaged impact of projects on citizens as well as the economy amongst others.
When fully implemented, he said water sector roadmap is poised to be a catalyst in generating employment, increase generation of electricity as well as food supplies. “In recognition of our nation’s agricultural potential to not only boost our ability to feed ourselves, but also provide the largest opportunity to create jobs for our teeming young population, we have, in the last six months taken concrete steps to resuscitate the River Basin Development Authorities,” the minister said.
Source:newtelegraph
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