Bayelsa Govt. releases N422m counterpart fund for water project

The Bayelsa Government has presented a cheque of N422 million as counterpart fund for a joint N1.2 billion UNICEF, EU and World Bank water project for 200 communities in the state.
Presenting the instrument to the representative of the three international bodies on Sunday in Abuja, Governor Seriake Dickson said the figure represented 30 per cent of the total cost of the project.
He said “we have selected 200 communities in Bayelsa principally from two local government areas, so the EU, UNICEF and World Bank are contributing about N700 million.
“The state government is putting N422 million into the project, representing about 30 per cent of the cost.
“In fact, the key element of this agreement which for us is unquantifiable, is not the money that these bodies are providing but the technical expertise they are bringing to the table.”
The governor, however, said it would please its administration more if the agreement was expanded to include 250 communities before the end of the year.
“The challenge with Bayelsa is that while we have water everywhere, we rarely have clean water to drink. The chunk of the water is salty.
“The administration had constructed a number of water projects in some land locked communities but these were not enough. I think, this effort will go a long way to ease the pressure on us.
“This is why I have requested that another counterpart funding arrangement be struck within the year to for 250 more communities to be captured,’’ he said.
Dickson further said that every community in the state must be given access to some safe drinking water.
“This should happen in the life of this administration, even if it is one tap running, because the situation these communities manage remained really acute and disheartening.
“The administration is committed to providing potable water to all communities in the state within the next three years,’’ the governor said.
According to him, there are situations that compel the people to drink from stagnant pools, thereby, exposing themselves to perennial cholera and other dangerous diseases.
Dickson said “I know states are finding it difficult to meet up with their obligations to this laudable Federal Government-backed programme, but Bayelsa is prepared to do more because it is our focus.”
He added that local engineers and technicians from the state were being positioned to acquire expertise knowledge from their international counterparts that would handle the project.
Dickson, therefore, urged the benefiting communities to provide the necessary peaceful environment to ensure the commencement of work, adding that they must also protect the installations.
The Federal Government approved the programme for the 36 states of the federation to curb deficit in potable water supplies in local communities.
Bayelsa is among the few states that have so far paid counterpart funds to allow for the activation of the agreement by the three international bodies.