David Williams
Ekiti State has received 110 solar powered pumps and accessories for the construction of another set of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities across the 16 Local Government Areas and 22 Local Council Development Areas in the state.
Speaking with journalists, the State’s Commissioner for Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Professor Mobolaji Aluko explained that the project, executed under the World Bank-backed program for the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) programme, aims to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene services in underserved communities.
According to him, the idea of buying the pumps in bulk, was to cut down cost and ensure standardisation of pump quality and post-installation servicing.
His words, “The broader project is our SURWASH program and part of what we have been doing in the past two years is actually to ensure access to water and sanitation in urban and rural areas. “We have been constructing boreholes, sanitation and toilet facilities in schools, health centers and communities over the past two years with 121 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities rehabilitated and 64 solar powered boreholes constructed. The current installment is 110 WASH facilities consisting of anchored-in solar powered boreholes to be located in 55 schools and 55 health centers across the State with each LGA and LCDA getting two units, additional two units for each LGA and an extra two for Ado LGA.
“We are also working on finding lasting solution to the issue of electricity supply for our dams and emphasis now is on providing two things, dedicated lines to lead to the dams as well as dedicated power, whether it is gas power, solar power and even in some cases small hydro power dedicated to the dams is enough to pump water to where needed.
“Electricity for residential or commercial has far power less requirements than for dams because the dam requires heavy pumps, l that’s why we need dedicated independent powers for our dams, and for agricultural irrigation purpose around the dams.
“The focus now is to get power solutions that ensure we get potable water. We have four dams, a dam at Ero, Egbe, Ureje and Itapaji, as well as the fifth one at Ogbese which is Federal Government owned that is multipurpose, but essentially hydro that is currently being worked upon”.
The commissioner urged residents to take control over public facilities in their respective vicinity, emphasizing that taking control over public facilities through increased engagement, ownership and accountability, ultimately results in improved service delivery, proper maintenance and sustainability.
