FG spends N290m on borehole rehabilitation in two years

In the 2013 appropriation, N200 million was allocated while the 2014 appropriation allocated N90 million to the same sub-head.It would be recalled that the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Reng Ochekpe, had said recently that the ministry embarked on the rehabilitation of boreholes because 44 per cent of those earlier built by the government […]

In the 2013 appropriation, N200 million was allocated while the 2014 appropriation allocated N90 million to the same sub-head.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Reng Ochekpe, had said recently that the ministry embarked on the rehabilitation of boreholes because 44 per cent of those earlier built by the government malfunctioned soon after they were commissioned due to lack of maintenance.
Also within the years under review the ministry allocated N100 million to the federal rural water supply programme (2004 and 2006 act) and the enforcement of Nigeria standard of drinking water quality got N90 million.
A breakdown of the 2014 budget made available to Daily Trust shows that provision and rehabilitation of water facilities in flooded areas got N30 million.
The allocation, Daily Trust gathered, is part of the determination of the federal government to improve access to portable drinking water for millions of Nigerians.
In 2013, the federal government rehabilitated a total of 601 manual boreholes in 11 states and FCT as part of measures to ensure adequate supply of potable water nationwide, an official said.
Mr. Badamasi Tahir, the Director of Water Supply in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, said that the federal government had in collaboration with the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation in February 2011, repaired 1,000 manual boreholes in 18 states of the federation.
The collaboration covered job training for local artisans and hand pump caretakers, including 216 mechanics in selected local government areas of participating states.
The training of the caretakers, according to him, was to ensure proper maintenance of the boreholes.
It also included the setting up of a spare parts supply chain in each of the local government areas of the benefiting states, which cut across the six geo-political zones of the country.
But even as the drive gathers momentum, millions of Nigerians today are without safe drinking water, especially in the rural communities.
The borehole projects throughout the country to satisfy the growing demand for safe water is one of the measures taken to improve the socio-economic lives of the populace; however most of these boreholes are malfunctioning and many others abandoned as a result of one problem or the other.
The abandoning of the boreholes has led to the adoption of the hand pump boreholes especially in the rural areas this due to their simplicity, low cost of purchase, low maintenance requirement and the fact that they do not require electric power to operate.