Gombe State begins expansion, rehabilitation of water scheme

The Gombe State Government has begun the expansion and rehabilitation of it’s Regional Water Scheme, with the signing of a contract worth 11.4 billion naira.

The Gombe State Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr. Yahaya Mijinyawa says the development is another milestone recorded in the history of the state, in terms of water provision to the Residents.

The contract is expected to cover major and minor works aimed at addressing the gaps identified in reticulation, such as the laying and construction of pipes of 160 kilometres of pipeline across the city.

It will involve the construction of three major Booster Stations across the city, in Tunfure, Gombe Special Capital Development Zone, a new area being planned and the third Booster Station are to be around NTA.

Mr. Mijinyawa said the Booster Stations would be hybrid.

“The Booster Station in Tabra relies 100% on the supply of electricity, which means that if there is no light, you will have no water. However, the new scheme will be a hybrid system, which will have a solar component, connected to the national Grid and as well have a generating system, so that whenever there is a failure in one, you can automatically switch to the other to get water, even if there is no light. The beauty of the Booster Station is the pumping system, which means that irrespective of the height that could not be reached by the gravity system, the Booster Station can pump water into the place. Some of the features of a booster station are ground tank, overhead tank, administrative building, a pump house, a generating house, as well as a security house and a Solar Panel Station,” Mr. Mijinyawa explained.

Consequently, the Booster Station to be located in NTA is expected to supply water up to the International Conference Centre.

 

Mr. Mijinyawa said the Water Station in Wuro Juli was used even before the Gombe Regional Water Scheme and the wear and tear of age had made it stop functioning, thereby requiring rehabilitation.

 

Boreholes and Solar Syatem

The Gombe State Commissioner for Water Resources said the Wuro Juli Water Scheme would be expanded, to include boreholes solar system.

He said more boreholes were expected to be constructed in Mallam Inna, which already had an existing contract.

 

The Commissioner said the water project would have a Mini Water Scheme and treatment plant in Tabra to support the existing one.

 

According to him, “All of you are aware of the battle we had to face with the people of Tabra, at the inception of this administration, because Water was not able to get to the reservoirs there, we had to disconnect them. Most of them are connected to the mainline that brings water to the city. After doing that, the Governor graciously approved a new pipeline that supplies Tabra and environs.” 

 

Maintenance

He said the contract would also involve the total maintenance and rehabilitation of the existing water pipeline in the city, which has in recent times witnessed leakages to do with the service, the responsibility of which lies with the individuals who use the service line to get water to their houses.

 

“The responsibility of the government is to maintain major pipelines that bring water to the area, not service lines that take water to individual houses,” said the commissioner for Water Resources.

 

He called on the residents of Gombe to protect the facility, for their own benefit.

 

Overall, the Gombe State Commissioner for Water Resources said the existing pipeline would be maintained, and 100 new Isolation Valves installed to effectively and effectively supply water, by easily locking one area and allowing another one to operate.

 

He explained that “If you look at what we have now, there are areas that have water 24/7 in Gombe, even though some are crying that we do not have water for weeks. There are areas that have water on a daily basis. So, when we have these isolation valves, it will help us in distributing water effectively and efficiently.”

 

He said part of the water contract would include the installation of water metres, with a pilot scheme of about 2000 metres for domestic consumers, and about 250 bulk metres, meant for higher water consumers, like industries, which require a higher supply of water.

 

The contract duration would be for 24 months, but to enable the scheme function properly the consultant was given 30 months to his job.

 

The Commissioner said before now, the contextual agreement between the previous government and the major contractor handling the operation and maintenance of the Dadin Kowa Treatment Plant had some outstanding debt issues, but that the Inuwa Yahaya-Led Administration had paid over 90% of the debts, which was being paid in instalment.
 

Confidence Okwuchi