World Bank Inspect SURWASH Projects in Gombe
By Laraba Usman
The World Bank has inspected Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply Sanitation And Hygiene (SURWASH) projects in Gombe state to ensure achievement of expected results.
Our correspondent reports that some of the projects inspected were toilets facilities at Government Science Secondary School Gombe, Solar powered borehole and toilets at the Specialist Hospital Gombe and a Toilet facility at Government Girls College Doma.
Others were Conventional Solar powered borehole at Idi area and Mini borehole at Garin Alkali village in Kwami Local Government Area of Gombe state.
Speaking to news men, Alhaji Usman Aliyu SURWASH coordinator Gombe said the project, was initiated by the federal government in partnership with the World Bank aimed at providing protection for human health and improving the livelihood of the people.
He said the project was expected to ensure reforms in governance and service provision through increased access to drinking water and sanitation services via the construction and rehabilitation of WASH infrastructure.
Aliyu said the purpose of the inspection was for World Bank to ensure that the benefiting state has done the project inline with their protocols and guidelines which will qualify them to get disbursement for additional projects.
“Our target was to ensure everybody has portable drinking water and sanitation facilities.
“We are targetting all the 11 LGAs for potable drinking water and three for open defacation,” he said.
He said they were satisfied with what the stakeholders in the community were doing in terms of maintanance but they need to improve.
He added that in 2024 they will do multiple projects because the governor has reviewed their work plan and also asked k them their needs.
Alh. Sa’ad Yuguda Sector lead WASH Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) who were responsible for the implementation of rural water supply, sanitation, and hygiene projects said they have done a lot of activity to ensure open defacation has reduced to the barest minimum.
“Open defecation is an issue in Gombe, but we thank God there is the political will to end it, “Recently we have inaugurated State taskforce on Sanitation and Local Government task group saddled with the responsibility of certification of communities free from open deification,” he said,
He said they have also engaged stakeholders to ensure facility maintenance in their various communities.
