The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Tuesday in Abuja said it had constructed 192 rural water supply schemes of various types across the six area councils in the last six months.
The FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Aliyu, who made the disclosure at the 2022 World Water Day with the theme: “Groundwater: Making the Invisible, Visible”, said the move was part of measures to improve the citizens’ health status and dignity.
Aliyu noted that groundwater was central to surviving and adapting to climate change and meeting the needs of a growing population.
She said that the FCT Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency and UNICEF had trained about 60 community artisans on the maintenance of rural water supply schemes to ensure the sustainability of the facilities.
“Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committees (WASHCOMs) are currently being established in each beneficiary community to be in charge of operation and management of the facilities,” she said
Aliyu said the optimal benefits that accrued from adequate water supply could not be achieved without corresponding improved sanitation and hygiene practices.
She noted that access to adequate potable water and improved sanitation and hygiene practices played important roles in defining the human capital development of a nation.
” In recognition of this, I performed a historic declaration of a State of Emergency in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the Federal Capital Territory.”
” The event was a clear demonstration that the administration has officially stepped into the national push to end open defecation, accelerate access to safe water, and improved hygienic practices for all residents of the territory. Thus leaving no one behind,” she said.
The minister commended the FCT Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency for the provision of a borehole to the Mawyeya community in Abuja Municipal Area Council
She enjoined the agency to do more in other area councils.
Earlier, the Executive Director, FCT Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Malam Dan Hassan Ali, affirmed that the project was in fulfillment of the core mandate of RUWASSA to improve access to safe water.
“This is through the provision of new and rehabilitation of existing water schemes in rural communities across the Federal Capital Territory.”
He said that the provision of boreholes to the Mawyeya community was the first time residents of the community would have access to a safe water supply.
He, therefore, appealed to residents of the community to protect and sustainably manage the project.