FG to spend N1.2 billion on dams in 2015
A breakdown of the ministry’s 2015 budget showed that the ministry is not embarking on the construction of new dams in 2015 but would channel available resources to the completion of ongoing dams across the country.In the 2014 allocation the dam sub-sector was allocated the sum N8.1billion for construction of 64 new dams most of […]
A breakdown of the ministry’s 2015 budget showed that the ministry is not embarking on the construction of new dams in 2015 but would channel available resources to the completion of ongoing dams across the country.
In the 2014 allocation the dam sub-sector was allocated the sum N8.1billion for construction of 64 new dams most of which are small earth.
According to the budget, continuous works on 27 small earth dams got the highest allocation of N700 million. The same project was also allocated the sum of N700 million in the 2014 appropriation, Kashimbila Dam which is expected to be commissioned by the federal government in February got N88 million as against N3 billion it got in 2014 while Otukpo Dam, Galma multipurpose Dam and Ogwashi-Uku Dam all got N70 million each as compared to the N2 billion, N1 billion and N55 million allocated to them in 2014.
The Jare earth Dam was allocated N66.9 million as against N30 million in 2014, Ile-Ife Dam got N5.8 million while in 2014 it was allocated N100 million, Ivo River Dam and Auna Dam in Kontagora got N5.8 as against N200 million and N100 million in 2014.
Adada River Dam was allocated N29.4 million as Barkin Ladi Dam while Nkari Dam got N30 million as compared to N300 million it got in 2014, Mashi Dam project got an increase of N11 million from the N4.3 million it got in 2014.
Mrs Sarah Reng Ochekpe, Minister of Water Resources in a presentation at the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden recently said that the federal government was investing in the dam sub-sector to increase access of Nigerians to safe water as well as increasing the nation’s capacity for irrigated farming.
According to her, most of the dams under construction across the country are multi-purpose in nature as they are constructed with the capacities for provision of bulk water for domestic and industrial uses, irrigation, and power generation.
Prof. Elechi Okafor, a hydrologist told Daily Trust that the massive construction of dams by the federal government was a healthy development as it would enable the country draw close to meeting the MDG target on water.
“The massive construction of dams will also help reduce the craze by Nigerians to drill borehole in every household. If there is sufficient water in the dams and they are tapped into houses or places where the public can access, then we will be making significant progress towards the attainment of the water related MDGs,” Okafor added.