FG to maximise Kashimbila Dam opportunities

Such opportunities, according to the Minister of Water Resources Mrs Sarah Reng Ochekpe, include provision of potable water to residents of Taraba, Benue and environs, activating irrigation agriculture, generating energy for transmission to the national grid and boosting tourism, aviation, transportation as well as trade and investment.
Ochekpe made the declaration during a visit to the dam with ministers of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Mr. Edem Duke, and of State for Power, Muhammed Wakil.
She urged all sectors of the economy to visit Kashimbila to see how they would either contribute or maximise the potentials available in the project.
Kashimbila Dam is a buffer dam designed to accommodate the poisonous gas and water that may come to Nigeria in case of breakdown of Lake Nyos in Cameroon.  
Presently, the dam has the capacity to generate 40 megawatts of hydro power, 2000 hectares land for irrigation, tourism potentials, aviation and transport potentials and would provide 60,000 cubic meters of water daily to 400,000 people.
The minister added that: “The President himself had been driving this project and we are happy that today as we stand with you now the project is 95 per cent completed. We have already set in motion the process that would lead to the commissioning of the project early February, 2015, so we are happy with what we have seen.          
“We want to maximise every opportunity that is available here, next time we would come with our colleague from agriculture because of the irrigation component. Staple processing zone would be set up around this neighbourhood and this would not only open up the rural areas but would provide opportunity to further improvement on our agricultural activities in Nigeria,” the minister said.