Taraba targets 7m gallons of water daily

Mr Musa Buba, the General Manager, Taraba Water Supply Agency, on Tuesday said the agency would produce and distribute more than seven million gallons of water daily under the Jalingo Water Project.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state had recently secured a loan of N3.6 billion from the African Development Bank (AFDB) to fund the project.

Buba, who disclosed this to journalists in Jalingo, said the loan would be paid back in 50 years.

He said the terms and references of the project included drilling and rehabilitation of boreholes, commercialisation of water supply in the state and maintenance of facility, among others.

The general manager said that 40 boreholes would be sunk at three separate locations within the metropolis.

He said the water would be channelled to seven top hill reservoirs through a distribution network that stretched over 250 kilometers within Jalingo and its environs.

Buba said the project, which was expected to be completed in 2025, would boost the agency’s current “poor water production capacity of 5000 cubic metres per day”.

According to him, the project would reduce water borne diseases and deaths arising from use or consumption of untreated water by residents upon completion.

The official said the project was a performance based, which would be jointly monitored by the Federal Government, Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and the AfDB.

He listed the project handlers to include ApexHeight, Ghasalaz, CGC and China Zhonghao.