Mrs Victoria Yavoro a resident of Kpantinapo on the outskirts of Jalingo has disclosed to Arewa PUNCH how she keeps vigil while waiting for her turn to scoop out water from a natural pound in the area.
According to her, “Since the rains stopped, my children have been going to school late and sometimes even miss classes.”
For Deborah Nkanta, the water situation in her area usually gets worse from March to May every year in the Dinyanvo area of Jalingo.
Like Yavoro, she narrated her plight to Arewa PUNCH who visited the area during the week
Nkata lamented, “last year was the worst for us. Most times, from March to May, myself and my three children alternate days of bathing because of lack of water. We can not afford to have our bath regularly.”
The pathetic stories of both Deborah Nkanta and Victoria Yavoro tell the sorry state of the water situation in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, and its environs.
[blockquote align=”left” author=”Penci Design” style=”font-size: 30px”]To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it?[/blockquote]
This situation, our correspondent learnt is a familiar one faced by many residents of the city who have continued to lament the acute water scarcity which they plead that the government should urgently address to save them from imminent death.
Investigations by Arewa PUNCH reveal that since 11 years ago, when the Taraba State Government secured a loan facility from the African Development Bank for the expansion and construction of water and sanitation facilities in Jalingo nothing serious has come from that effort.
Not a few of the residents who spoke with our correspondent carpeted the successive state governments for remaining insensitive to their plight by addressing the water shortage in the state capital and other parts of the state.
They say that they are particularly miffed at the fall out of this initiative which has not resulted in the flow of potable water to the various communities.
Another resident of Kpantinapo, Ibrahim Alli, who also spoke with Arewa PUNCH noted, “We are highly disappointed in our respective governments because potable water remains a scarce commodity and an exclusive preserve of the rich who can afford to drill borehole in their homes or communities.”
Arewa PUNCH recalls that the late Governor of the state, Danbaba Suntai, had on October 24, 2012, launched the Urban Water and Sanitation Improvement Project – with an African Development Bank loan of approximately US $50 million, an equivalent of N7.9bn for the rehabilitation, expansion, and construction of water and sanitation facilities in Jalingo, to address the persistent water shortage in the state capital and other parts of the state.
A document sighted by our correspondent indicated that the AFDB loan for Taraba and Oyo state amounting to US $100 million was prepared in March 2009, and the Taraba State Government launched the project on October 24, while the Oyo State Government commenced its own project on November 1, 2012.
But 11 years after the project launch, Jalingo residents have continued to groan as water scarcity bites harder, even though the pipes that were supposedly laid for the project have yet to experience water run through them but rather, they have remained dry and rusty.
More residents in Jalingo were eager to speak with our correspondent over what they termed as vexed water issue.
Daniel Jacob who offered to speak on behalf of the other residents while also lamenting the scarcity of water in the city, bemoaned the fact that “the vision to have a city with potable water supply for all has died with the late Danbaba Suntai.”
The water scarcity situation it was learnt has equally crippled domestic and economic activities in many parts of the state capital with areas like Kasua, Angwan Gadi, Di-Nyavoh, Shavon, Mayo-Gwai, Lassandi, Magami, Kona, Mayo-Dassa, Kofai-ATC, University community, Negatavah, and roadblock being the worst hit areas.
Musa Abdulmalik, a local water vendor who was seen buying water in front of the Taraba Water Supply Agency at the roadblock area of Jalingo told Arewa PUNCH that he makes between N7000 and N10,000 daily selling water to ready buyers.
Ngozika Iheme, who operates a restaurant in the city says she relies solely on commercial water vendors to supply her high volume water needs to get her eatery running.
She too lamented the situation, adding that, “worse still, water vendors have hiked the prices of the various jerrycans they fill up with water ready for supply.”
Continuing, Iheme stressed, “I do buy a minimum of four Amarake (local truck) with 10 jerrycans at the cost of N700 per truck every day. This is aside other expenses. The Mairuwa people are not many and they know themselves, so, if you refuse to buy from one, you will not even get water again for the whole day because the mairuwa vendors will collaborate to sell at a particular amount of their choice and which is still cheap compared to tank water sellers who charge between N12,000 and N18,000 per trip depending on the location.
“In this economy, not everybody can afford to buy water at N700 per truck every day. Yes, some people can afford it, but a majority of those who can not will have to travel long distances to fetch water from sources that are not safe for drinking,” she explained.
In the Magami area of Jalingo, some of the residents disclosed that, a wheelbarrow bearing ten jerrycans of water now sells for N400 as against the N200 price of last year. Mr. John Yakubu said his children spend valuable time in search of water and most times end up going to school late.
“Sometimes, the only option left for us is to wait patiently for the herders to satisfy their cows before it gets to our turn to fetch water at river Mayo-Gwoi.”
A public affairs analyst Pius Dabang confirmed that the Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project in Taraba and Oyo states was intended to address the persistent shortage of water supply and inadequate sanitation that has resulted from a fast-growing population and inadequate infrastructure.
He remarked, “Upon completion of the project, the number of residents having access to clean water and safe sanitation was expected to rise considerably from 25 to 80 per cent.
“Unfortunately, the vision has died off. The immediate past governor was given the award of ‘Water Man of the Year’ in 2018 without water running through the pipes.
“Monies were released to the state government in tranches and work commenced on the Jalingo water works with the contract awarded to SCC Nigeria Limited.
“To my greatest surprise, the former Governor, Darius Ishaku, commissioned the project uncompleted a few days before he left office. I don’t know why he was in a rush to commission a project that was only at 60 per cent completion stage?” Dabang queried.
When Arewa PUNCH contacted the Commissioner for Water Resources and Aquatic Affairs, Hon. Daniel Ishaku, he said that the government was aware of the water scarcity situation and is making efforts to urgently address the situation.
“We are aware of this challenge, especially around the University and College of Agriculture area. We have embarked on the field assessment, and very soon, we will address the situation,” Ishaku stated.
“Remember, we inherited this problem, and His Excellency, Dr. Agbu Kefas is committed to ensuring that every household has access to potable water. Water is an essential commodity, and we are determined to ensure that people have access to water.
“We have the issue of power supply and most times we use diesel to pump water and given the high cost of diesel, it is difficult to pump water that can serve the entire residents of Jalingo,” he pointed out.
https://punchng.com/taraba-capital-water-crisis-persists-after-n7-9bn-afdb-loan/
