The Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, on Wednesday, flayed the Federal Government’s $700 million borrowing request to implement Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) project, domiciled in the Ministry of Water Resources.
When she appeared before the panel to defend the request, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs Esther Didi Walson-Jack, said $640 million would be used for the project and the remaining $60 million for capacity building.
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According to Walson-Jack, the SURWASH project would last for five years and the beneficiary states included Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Katsina, and Plateau with counterpart funding of $175 million.
The programme will deliver improved water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services to 2,000 schools and healthcare facilities and assist 500 communities to achieve open defecation free status.
However, the committee, chaired by Senator Clifford Ordia, faulted the borrowing request for SURWASH project and summoned the Minister of Water Resources, Adamu Suleiman, to appear before it to give detailed explanation and state of previous loans used to execute water projects.
Ordia said three loans had been approved for various water projects across the country.
“You need to tell us what you are doing with $700 million for water projects,” Ordia told the permanent secretary.
Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe (APC, Kwara) queried the criteria for selecting the beneficiaries, adding that details provided by the permanent secretary was not enough to justify the loan.
“The details you are providing is not enough. What are the projects you want to do with $640 million?
“You are giving each state $3 million to develop personnel capacity. Do we need loan to do this function? You mean all states can’t do that on their own?” he queried.
Senator Obinna Ogba (PDP, Ebonyi) said Nigerians were yet to feel the impact of the water projects financed by the previous loans.
However, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger) urged his colleagues to take a critical look at the loan requests and approve only the necessary ones.
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