As part effort towards strengthening water and sanitation delivery in Abuja, FCT Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Directorate otherwise known as (RUWASSA), in partnership with WaterAid Nigeria has launched a 133 million Naira water and sanitation intervention project in Bwari area council of the Territory.
The project, funded by the Latter Day Saints Charity (LDSC) is expected to be executed within a one-year period, in order to strengthen Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) delivery in four selected communities namely; Dakwa, Barangoni, Zuma II and Tudun Fulani within Bwari Area council.
Also, the project will focus on increasing access to WASH services by constructing and rehabilitating solar-powered water facilities as wel as provision of gender-inclusive public sanitation facilities in the selected communities
In his welcome remarks, Executive Director, FCT RUWASSA, Mohammed Dan-Hassan, said the initiative will serve as a model for improved access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in FCT communities.
Dan-Hassan disclosed that two communities will be provided with two new water scheme, one community will get rehabilitation of an existing water scheme, while there will be the provision of a sanitation facility.
“We have ceremoniously launched the project, and we hope to see the implementation in next two to three months towards its completion in these communities, thereafter, we intend to integrate the community members into it, as a strategy to ensure sustainability. The community members on the project, will help maintain and take care of it themselves.
“So, in the months ahead, we will come back and see the facilities functioning, that will make us happy, and we will seek for other partnerships to replicate this project in other communities in Bwari Area Council and even other Area Councils of the FCT,” he stressed.
Also speaking, Elder Idyo Egbo of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the sponsors of the project, said the Church noticed the gap that exist in sanitation and water supply, and in its philanthropic nature decided to partner with WaterAid to provide water and sanitation for the people in the selected communities.
He added, that the Church believe in uplifting the lives of the people, looking on how people can be better off and Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs) help to forge partnerships in such interventional.
According to him, “In Abuja, about 70% of people lack access to adequate water supply, and 52% of these people also suffer from living in unhygienic environment, and there is another 30% that seriously are affected by open defecation. So we believe that this project will assist in reducing that number. But particularly, it will change attitude and behaviours.
“I believe with what we have done, we will see an improvement in the living standard of people especially in areas that are outside the metropolitan city of Abuja.”
Representative of the WaterAid Nigeria, Kolawole Baruwo, Head of Advocacy, Policy and Communication, noted that over the next twelve months, the project will make life meaningful for the people as a start.
He said, “When people fall sick from water bone diseases, children cannot go to school, women cannot go to the markets and be productive, so society slows down generally.
“So to provide access to WASH in the selected communities in Bwari, with the hope of reaching 9,500 people especially women and children in schools, so that they can have dignity, good health and participate meaningfully in the society.”
District Head, Dakwa Community, Alh. Alhassan Musa, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiary communities, described the project as a critical intervention that would improve the wellbeing of people in the rural areas.
