The Katsina State Government says it has earmarked N10 billion to improve water, sanitation and hygiene services under the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH).
SURWASH is a World Bank-supported project aimed at achieving improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
The project is being implemented in Imo, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina and Plateau states.
Mr Aminu Dayyabu, the Programme Coordinator in the state, said this in an interview on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, in Katsina.
According to Dayyabu, the project is targeting to provide clean, affordable and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to 80 per cent of the population in urban and rural areas of the state.
He said the state adopted proactive measures to achieve the target by 2027, in tandem with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dayyabu said that SURWASH was coordinating the project’s implementation by providing technical support to the implementing agencies.
He listed the implementing agencies to include State Water Board, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Small Town Water, Hygiene and Sanitation Agency and the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).
”We act as a link between the state government and the World Bank. All the successes recorded by the IAs are forwarded to our office and we send same to the project implementing unit at the national level.
”In Katsina State, the project is being implemented in Bature, Batagarawa, Daura, Charanchi, Funtua, Kafur, Kankara and Katsina Local Government Areas.
“Urban cities, small towns and rural areas in these LGAs are expected to be saturated with clean, affordable and sustainable water, hygiene, sanitation facilities by the end of the intervention.
“Right now, IAs has reported some achievements, and whenever result is achieved, verification agent will come to verify the results and that will trigger some disbursements to the state government, we are expecting them in March, 2024,” he said.
He said the state governor, Dikko Radda, had directed for the rehabitation of 34 small town water supply schemes.
The project, he said, would be executed by the newly created small towns water and sanitation agency with technical support from SURWASH.
“We are restoring access to where there are no functional facilities, and where there are functional facilities, we will improve and change the energy source to solar for sustainability,” he said.
He that under the project arrangements, RUWASSA would rehabilitate 1,300 broken hand pumps while 1,000 new ones would be drilled in rural communities in 2024.
By Zubairu Idris
