The federal government has said more investment is needed to support the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) programme.
Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, said this yesterday in Abuja at the 3rd Federal Steering Committee Meeting of SURWASH.
City & Crime reports that the project, supported by the World Bank, is aimed at impacting rural, small and urban water supply.
The $700m six-year duration programme, which started implementation in 2022, is being implemented in Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Katsina and Plateau states.
Speaking at the meeting, Utsev sought support from states through the provision of adequate funding.
He said: “It is very important for the states to adequately support this programme at state level by providing adequate funding for their states to enable them take advantage of this opportunity considering it is a Programme-for-Results initiative.
“This improved funding will enable us to achieve the activities set in this work plan and we should also consider scaling up our activities that will lead to improved disbursements by the end of the 2024 programme year and hence the rating of the programme.
“It is important to inform the committee that we are below the annual disbursements in the previous years, therefore there is a need for participating states to be proactive and committed to the programme.”
