June 09, (THEWILL) — The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Water Resources, Hon. Chinedu Nkah, has said that with the arrival of the treatment plants to the state on Wednesday, and subsequent installation by engineers, water will start running from Friday.
Nkah, who disclosed this during a chat with journalists in his Abakaliki office, attributed the lack of water supply in the state to the activities of hoodlums who vandalised water facilities at the Ezillo water scheme.
While thanking the people of Ebonyi State for their patience, Nkah reiterated that the Ebonyi State government is still alive to its promise of delivering water to the people of Ebonyi State through the rehabilitated water schemes.
“We don’t fake things, we say things as it is. Yeah, whoever said there is no water, the person is correct. For some time, we were not pumping water due to some challenges, including the theft of our infrastructure at the Ezillo water scheme.
“My target was to start delivering water supply before Friday, and by God’s grace, we must achieve that. Our water treatment materials are on the way, which we have been expecting later tomorrow morning. The engineers are there fixing our cables”, he stated.
He explained further that the Ebonyi State government has spent a huge amount of money on the rehabilitation of Ezillo, Oferekpe and the old Abakliki water scheme, Ishiagu water scheme, adding that Ezillo, Oferekpe and Abakliki water schemes are almost at completion level.
“If you bring, for instance, 1 billion Naira and build a house, everybody crossing will be clapping, and say, who built this house, it’s very fine. But you use the same 1 billion Naira and buy pipe along the ground, nobody will see it. And we have been doing that.
“This government has spent a lot on reticulation, for instance. They have spent a lot on fixing the water schemes. We have five water schemes. The Ezilo, the Oferekpe, the Old Abakaliki water scheme, the Ukawu water scheme, and the Ishiagu water scheme. These are the major water schemes we have in the state.
“And within three years, we can boast of about three water schemes in place. The Ezilo water scheme is 100%. The Oferekpe water scheme is above 95% completion. The old Abakliki water scheme is the same. We are already doing test running of the old Abakliki water scheme.
“If we go to the Abakaliki water scheme low lift now, you see that all the machines have been fixed. We started test running. And what we are doing now is that we are fixing the pipeline from the low lift to the high lift.
“So, at most, give it one month, we’ll have that water scheme in place. So if we look at it, we’ll see that we’re doing great within the timeline. Yes, people might be impatient, they did not see water for some time.
“But we are very strategic, both in planning and executing our projects. And within a very short time now, starting from this week, I am telling you, starting from this week, we must start water production and supply from Ezilo again. And this time around, we’ll make it steady”, he assured.
He, however, told journalists that the main suspect responsible for the destruction of the water facilities at Ezillo has appeared in court for the fouth time.
“I was told the main suspect is appearing in court today for the third or fourth time. Because the men of underworld, while the government is making effort to fix the water infrastructure, they are busy stealing it”, he concluded.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
