Governor Inuwa Flags off Rehabilitation, Expansion And Upgrade Of Gombe Regional Water Supply Project
By Collins Mbakwe
Gombe Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya along side Minister of Water Resources, Engr.Sulaiman Adamu has formally flagged off a multi-billion Naira water project in a bid to end the age-long water supply challenges in Gombe Metropolis and environs.
This is contained in an address delivered on Friday 6th January, 2023 by Governor Inuwa at the official flagoff of the rehabilitation, expansion and upgrade of the Gombe Regional Water Scheme.
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Recall that the project had commenced with the signing of memorandum of understanding between Gombe State Government and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in August 2021.
Speaking, the governor thanked the Minister whom he described as “my brother and dependable partner in this project”.
The governor noted that the issue of water supply is “dear to my heart, saying that on assumption of office as governor, the water treatment plant, Dadin Kowa was in a state of despair, adding that he gave the treatment plant a facelift within his 100 days in office.
Continuing, Governor Inuwa who built and rehabilitated over 600 boreholes across the 11 local governments,, stated that the flag off of the water project is a result of the partnership with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and his several years of commitment in ensuring that water which is a necessity to life, is easily accessible by the people of Gombe State.
He expressed gratitude to president Muhammad Buhari, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources led by Engr. Superman Adamu for their contributions to the development of Gombe State.
Northeast Star reliably gathered that the physical implementation of the project commenced with the award of contract in May 2022 to Jidadu Ventures Nigeria Limited at the total contract sum of 11.492 billion naira and engineering consultancy services to Messrs Global Ecological Consultant, Nigeria Limited at the total contract of 419.2 million naira.
Under the arrangement, Gombe is funding 70 percent of the total financial cost of the contract, amounting to N8.045 billion while the Federal Government is contributing 30 percent which is N3.447 billion.
The works to be executed under the contract are categorized into three: The first category includes: Construction of New Booster Stations, Construction of three booster stations at Tumfure, NTA and Special Development Zone Communities, Construction of 1000 cubic meter (1 million litre) capacity braithwaite surface tank, Construction of 500 cubic meter (500,000 cubic litre capacity) elevated water tank on twelve meter towers, Supply and installation of Hybrid solar powered pumps, Construction of Ancillary works which include: admin block, generator house, pump house, security post and perimeter fence, Construction of another elevated water tank of 500 cubic meter (500,000 cubic litre capacity) on twelve meter towers at Gombe International Conference Center, ICC along Bauchi Road.
The 2nd category; Tabra water scheme includes: Construction of three solar-powered boreholes, Construction of 200 cubic meter (200,000 cubic litre capacity) braithwaite surface tank;, construction of 100 cubic meter (100,000 cubic litre capacity) elevated water tank on twelve meter tower station, Supply and installation of package treatment plants and, Construction of ancillary buildings which include: admin block, pump house security post and perimeter fencing to safeguard the facility.
The 3rd category; Wuro Juli Water Scheme, the projects involve include: Conversion of 6 existing boreholes from generator based to solar-powered based, Construction of additional 6 solar powered boreholes, Supply and installation of package treatment plant, Supply and installation of high leap pumps, rehabilitation of existing ancillary buildings, Construction of perimeter fencing and security post to safeguard the investment, Rehabilitation and replacement of the overhead tank at Women’s Center, Construction of 160 kilometre pipeline of between 75 to 200 millimetres in diameter of High Density Polyethylene, HDPE Pipes for distribution network, Replacement of valves and installation of meters.
The project is packaged to include a sustainability aspect where there will be technical support and capacity building for Gombe State Ministry of Water Resources and Gombe State Water Board to be able to operate and maintain these systems once they are completed.
Work has already reached significant level of completion at many sites of the project. In view of that, Governor Inuwa pledged to complete the project before the end of May, 2023.
