The Federal Executive Council has approved N865 million revised cost for two water projects in Yobe and Katsina States.
Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu revealed this while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of this week’s cabinet meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said: “The first one is the Fika Gadaka Water Project in Yobe State. This project which started in 2003 was abandoned in 2007 at 30 percent completion. We sought council approval to revive the project and therefore, we had to revise the cost of the project and also change the scope of work to include things like solar power instead of the diesel generator provided for in 2003 when diesel was quite cheap.
“We have taken a policy in the ministry that going forward, we will be using solar system to power water schemes and accordingly, this was done in the case of this project plus an extension of the pipeline to cover more areas. Because between 2003 and now, obviously, the two towns would have expanded. So, this revised estimated total cost is in the sum of N555.15 million in favour of the existing contractors.
“Also, the second memo is the revision of the consultancy contract for the supervision of Gere Earth Dam in Katsina. This also is an inherited ongoing project. Council in 2018 approved the revised estimated total cost for the project towards its completion and so it also makes sense that the services of the consultants supervising the project should also be extended and Council approved the extension of consultancy services by another 36 months also with augmentation of N310 million in terms of consultancy fees.”
Zainab Sa’id
