BY EZEKIEL DONTINNA
The Jos Water Services Corporation (JWSC), has clutched the final straw set for the implementation of water project in Jos-South Local Government Area of Plateau State through the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) project.
This came following a 2-Day Capacity Building workshop organised by Plateau State Government in collaboration with JWSC and SURWASH for stakeholders on Implementation of Environmental and Social Management Plans for Project in Jos-South LGA, held at the conference hall of Dimples Hotel along Zarmaganda-Rayfield road in Jos recently.
Declaring the workshop opened, the Plateau State Commissioner for Water Resources and Energy, Hon. Noel Nkup, commended the MD and the staff of JWSC for remaining steadfast to ensuring that the process of implementing this project was adhere to.
He said, “before JWSC got to this stage, we as a Ministry has done the needful. One of the things that His Excellency promised to the people of Plateau State is to provide portable drinking water and water for irrigation farming.
“And as God would make it, we have come and the process of this project have started. We are here to continue from where others have started and not condemning what they have down. We want to continue and that is exactly what we are doing”, Nkup assured.
Earlier, the Managing Director/CEO of JWSC, Engr. Apollo’s Simon Samchi, described the workshop as an epoch making event as it marked the final point of the hard work down under SURWASH Programme.
“For this particular contract that have just been awarded, that is; the rehabilitation of the Yelwa Water Treatment Plant, the rehabilitation of the Bukuru Overhead Still Tank and the laying of pipelines extension in Gyel and communities.
“This is geared towards improving water supply within Jos/Bukuru metropolis. The financial implications of this particular project in naira is ₦1.7billion for the urban water supply sector which the JWSC is doing”, he disclosed.
Presenting the overview of the project, the Plateau State Coordinator of SURWASH, Engr. Jonathan Malann, asserted that the show of commitment to the reform in the water sector by the Plateau State Government was what gave them an age to benefit among other six states of the Federation.
He listed some of the benefitting States to include: Katsina, Kaduna, Gombe, Ekiti, Delta, Imo and Plateau States respectively. The Coordinator said, “the entire Programme is to the sum of twenty-five million dollars ($25m) and it is shared among the seven states”.
There were assurances by the Programme Consultant, Engr. Kanti Peter, and the contracting firms that they would finished the contract within the given time frame of 5-6 months as the Da Gwom Rwei of Jos-South, HRH (Dr) Nga Dangyang, represented Jonathan Dangyang could not wait to see the project completed soonest.