Residents of Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State are hopeful that the inaugurated Partnership for Expanded Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) project in the area will tackle the perennial water and hygiene challenges facing them.
A resident, Mr John Daniel, said, “They said the project would tackle open defecation, rural water and sanitation other related challenges in our local government area; if that is true, it is a welcome development.”
Speaking at the official inauguration of the project in the area, Governor Abdullahi Sule said the project was in line with his administration’s commitment to key into the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme of the the federal government.
The governor who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Mr Nuhu Usman-Bunu, said the PEWASH project was targeted at increasing access to potable water, sanitation and hygiene across rural communities in the state.
Gov Sule said, “Today’s occasion is important and timely; it’s a demonstration of our administration’s commitment to key into the National Action Plan for Revitalisation of the WASH programme declared by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“As part of effort to meet global standard as envisioned by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this administration took an informed decision to revive the moribund Nasarawa State Rural Water and Sanitation Agency (NARUWASA) to address the water challenge in the state.”
He further said the state had made some progress in the implementation of PEWASH, while noting that the state had paid a N250m counterpart fund and signed other technical requirements.
While expressing his administration’s resolve to vigorously pursue SDG Goal 6, ensuring that no one was left behind in the implementation of the National Action Plan, the governor tasked the six benefiting LGAs to give the necessary support for the implementation the project.
The benefitting local government areas are Nasarawa, Kokona, Awe, Akwanga, Lafia and Wamba.
Earlier, Mr Danjuma Madaki, Director of Water Supply, said the primary goal of PEWASH was to contribute to the improvement of public health and eradication of poverty in Nigeria through the achievement of SDG Goal 6 by 2030, especially in rural areas.
Mr Madaki explained that PEWASH which was designed to run for 15 years was divided into three phases: Preparatory (2016-2018), Expansion (2019-2025) and Consolidation (2026-2030).
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