No fewer than one million consumers will have access to safe drinking water in Bauchi metropolis by March 2021, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
This was made known by Mr Aminu Gital, the Project Manager of a N30 billion Third World Bank Urban Water Sector Reform Project in Bauchi on Wednesday during the inspection tour of the facility.
He said that the project, expected to be completed in March 2021, would supply 75 million cubic litres of filtered and treated water daily to consumers in Bauchi metropolis.
Gital explained that 90 per cent of the total contract sum was provided by the World Bank while the remaining 10 per cent counter funding was provided by the state government.
According to him, the project has reached 93 per cent completion, adding that it only remains the installation of electro-mechanical equipment and other necessary gadgets.
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While stating that the project was being executed according to specifications, Gital stressed that it was designed and conceptualised to provide uninterrupted water supply to the targetted consumers from 2020 to 2027.
In his remarks, Mr Ali Shira, representative of the Board Chairman of Bauchi Water and Sewerage Corporation, commended the firms executing the project for doing quality jobs which, he said, would stand the test of time.
He expressed the board’s satisfaction with the quality and level of the project, urging the firms to beat the completion deadline to allow for prompt utilisation of the facility.
Shira lauded the efforts of the Gov. Bala Mohammed-led administration for facilitating the project, saying that it would bring to an end the acute water shortage currently being experienced in Bauchi metropolis.
NAN reports that the project, which began in July 2019, was initially scheduled for completion in Dec 2020.
This could, however, not be possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.