The Federal Government of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Ogun State Government is set to replicate the solar pump borehole, under the Partnership for Expanded Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH), in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State.
The Director, Water Supply and Public Private Partnership, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Engr. Benson Ajisegiri, disclosed this at the stakeholders review workshop on Information, Education and Communication materials and products held in Abeokuta, the State capital.
Represented by PEWASH National Coordinator, Mrs. Jumia Wakaso, said the benefitting LGAs were Ogun Waterside, Ijebu North, Odeda and Yewa North.
Engr. Ajisegiri, who revealed that the project, which has three phases and has reached the second stage in Waterside and Ijebu North was expected to also be executed by the State Government in Odeda and Yewa North Local Governments Area of the State.
He therefore urged stakeholders and WASH Committee in all the benefitting communities to take firm charge of the facilities and reverse the Sanitation and Hygiene crisis.
Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ogun State Ministry of Rural Development, Mr. Gbele Olugbebi, emphasised the need for the sustainability of water facilities, imbibing sanitation and hygiene culture, noting that, this has necessitated the establishment of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Committee (WASHCOM).
Olugbebi disclosed that only 14 rural and two semi-urban LGAs identified in the State are those that would benefit from the intervention of PEWASH.
Lending her voice, the Chairman, Obafemi Local Council Development Area, Mrs. Olabisi Collins, applauded the Government for putting smile on the faces of the citizens living in the area, adding that her community has been identified to be very rocky and had no electricity under national grid for 20years, which made it impossible to get clean water source,
“I urge my people, the beneficiaries to protect the facilities to encourage government to do more and ensure sanitation, hygiene and other health related issues, while my administration will strive to make communities become open defecation free’’, she said.