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Twenty seven years after its foundation stone was laid, the Warri/Effurun water initially financed by African Development Bank (AfDB) in conjunction with the Delta State government has remained a pipe dream.
The twin cities of Warri and Effurun and by extension, Udu, with a combined population of well over one million people lie below the sea level and rich in hydrocarbon.
Although, rivers abound in and around Warri and its environs, it is a sad commentary that no potable source of water for the people exists.
More often, the locals depend much on rain water said to be acidic and carcinogenic due to poisonous chemical elements from gas flaring and other forms of pollution that usually mix with the water, while some resort to digging boreholes for water, which are not well treated as the underground water is said to contain a very high level of iron. The result is the high incidence of patients in health facilities with typhoid fever and diarrhea; all water related diseases even as fabrics do not last long.
Such reasons led to the launch of the water project at the instance of the African Development Bank (AfDB) which began in 1989.
At the creation of Delta State in 1991 from the defunct Bendel State, the project was transferred to the state government during the military era, but sadly, it was halted in 1995. Ever since, it has been passed on from one successive administration to the other without concrete result.
Construction cost was put at US$127.05 Million and the scope of Work included, preliminary design, final design, tender documentation, tender evaluation, recommendation and award of contract, construction supervision.
The WarrilEffurun Water Supply Scheme was planned for three separate source head-works locations of the Warri/Effurun Metropolis namely Dom Domingo source head-works, Uwase source head-works and Barracks source head-works.
The implementation of the first phase which is Dom Domingo source head-works commenced in 1993 up to 1995 when work was suspended due to exhaustion of the African Development Bank (ADB) fund caused by several unforeseen factors during implementation.
Upon the creation of state in 1991, the Warri/Effurun water project was inherited by Chief Executive Officer of A.G Goldtrust Nigeria Limited, Mr. Freeman George Amadin and Mr. Benson Ogbeide of Natson Engineering Limited.
And the government of Governor James Ibori revisited the implementation of the project. The governor, who hails from the area, had on May 30, 2002 while giving account of his stewardship for the past two years hinted that N2 billion out of a total sum of N4.7 billion budgeted in the area of urban water supply “is earmarked for the reactivation of the ADB-assisted Warri-Effurun water supply project for which negotiations on resumption of work has commenced.’’
It is believed former Governor James Ibori missed a great opportunity to leave a lasting impression on residents of the areas, with his failure to complete the project.
Findings show that the funds were constantly approved to break the jinx of lack of pipe-borne water and revealed that allocations to the Ministry of Water Resources in Ibori’s eight-year administration amounted to over N16billion.
The present governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, was a onetime Commissioner for Water Resources during Ibori’s administration.
When Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan took over the baton of leadership in 2007, there was latent hope that there would be a turnaround in fortune. Several billions of naira was earmarked.
In August 2012, AG Goldtrust Limited was contracted to rehabilitate the Warri/Effurun Water Supply Project. The project involved repairs and re-installation of the treatment plant , retrofitting the water tower, exhuming and replacement of all damaged water pipes, laying of additional 52 kilometers of pipelines, connecting 15,500 houses to the water grid to supply over 400,000 homes with pipe borne water.AG GOLDTRUST LIMITED exhumed over several kilometers of ductile iron pipes across roads, drains, rivers, etc.
The project execution was divided into two phases. The first phase was to replace the ruptured pipelines buried underground and the second phase covered 54 kilometres of pipelines, which was to connect 15, 000 house units to the water grid.
In order to make the fixing easier, streets in the entire three local governments were grouped into 23 zones.
However, the state government’s resolve to see water run in taps of homes and over 111 streets was greeted with derision. The critical nature of ‘Deltans’ was at its best as they described the move as another conduit pipe for the state government to drain money which they believed should be expended on other relevant feasible projects.
The project has six filter beds, 17 boreholes, with a storage tank having a capacity of 2880 cubic meters or 600,000 gallons.
The governor said at the time the only problem militating against the distribution to homes and commissioning of the project, was the bust pipes on some portion of the ever busy Airport road and the adjoining streets. Some of those pipes were laid several years back.
Skepticisms and anger were provoked among the people when in the course of fixing the ruptured heavy pipes across the three local government areas, major and minor roads were excavated, causing gridlocks and slowing down the commercial activities.
The government was faced with daunting challenges as some of the taps, fixed in tiled rectangular spaces at strategic places such as market squares, roadsides; motor parks had been tampered with by vandals.
‘’Rehabilitation of laid pipes damaged over long abandonment and laying of new distribution pipes covering the first phase which had been our major problem has been completed. Today, treatment and electro-mechanic plants and 17 boreholes are being commissioned. Soon, we would have been done with flushing of the lines and the people can have water,” he had assured, but that was not to be, as he left office on May 29, 2015, without commissioning the project, thus dousing the optimism.
The incumbent Governor of the oil rich state, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is familiar with the Warri/Effurun water scheme ‘’palava’’ having served as a Commissioner of Water Resources in Ibori’s government. Governor Okowa who has been in the saddle of governance for one year, is yet to state clearly his policy direction in terms of provision of potable water to the deprived areas of the state.
There have been variations of the project over the years and the companies handling the project were owed at one time or the other as investigations have revealed.
Besides, lack of political will and systemic corruptions have remained the major reasons the project has not been completed right from the military era to the present democratic dispensation.
The companies which handled the project have remained silent about the unpleasant turn of event.
The importance of water can neither be over emphasized nor underestimated. It was the famous Greek Philosopher; Thales who advanced the idea that water is life. Apparently several studies have affirmed that living things cannot do without water.
For the sub-Saharan African countries, especially Nigeria, meeting the basic need of water is a long-standing challenge as it is indeed in many countries of the developing world.
According to a World Bank report, about 2.6 billion hours are spent annually by women in Sub-Sahara Africa in search of water. This figure is equivalent to the total workforce of France. In other words, while France is using about 2.6 billion hours to be productive, that same number of hours is spent by women in Africa in taking care of water and sanitation needs. This scenario, no doubt, is an unhealthy development in the continent of Africa.
Again, it is reported that about 75 per cent of patients in hospitals in most developing countries of the world are suffering from water related diseases. As a result of this disturbing development, most countries in the world have formulated a number of policies frame work aimed at mitigating this water related diseases or ailments.
In Nigeria, most state governments have given adequate attention to the issue of water supply with assistance from donor agencies in some cases, yet others have wasted huge resources on water projects without corresponding results as the Warri/Effurun water scheme has shown.