NGO donates water schemes to 5 FCT communities
By Tosin Kolade
WASH MATA Initiatives, a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) with support from Bank of Industry (BOI) has donated one motorised water scheme to five communities each in the FCT.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the benefiting communities are; Shape, Shishipe II, Nunkuchi, Sumpe (GidanGogo) and Shere Nomadic in Bwari area council of the FCT.
Dr Boluwaji Onabolu, Chief Executive Officer WASH MATA Initiatives, noted that the group identified some communities that have not been reached in the FCT.
”If Nigeria will achieve the Sustainable Development Goal six on improved access to water and sanitation, she must be intentional by not leaving anyone behind.
“One of it is a nomadic community where their cows had to drink water first; you will see the women queuing to get water from dirty streams in 2021 in FCT here.
“We used a vulnerability risks assessment to find out which communities are vulnerable, to ensure that services rendered to those who really needs them are not just constituency project’’.
Onabolu listed difficult terrains, insecurity and issues of kidnapping as challenges encountered while intervening.
She stressed the need for data to be available to help in evidence based interventions to select communities needing support.
“There is need for measures to be put in place from project formulation to implementation stages to help sustainability in interventions’’.
She said another challenge in the communities was a gap in rehabilitation of broken down water infrastructure, saying that with training of community members on operation and maintaining through little contributions, it would go a long way.
“We need evidence based intervention; the same people are getting the water while those that are in hard to reach communities will be left with no water.
“With sustainability comes the need for training, provision of tools to be integrated into water supply plans from the beginning.”
Analysis from the World Bank Sanitation Programme estimates that inadequate sanitation costs Nigeria 3 billion dollars annually, about 20 dollars per person and 1.3 per cent of its Annual GDP.
The cost of inadequate water supply is also estimated to be within this amount due to the health care costs and productive time lost from water related diseases.
The bank said safe drinking water provision is one of the most critical environmental health interventions used to prevent water and sanitation-related diseases.
NAN reports that WASH MATA Initiatives also rehabilitated 3 hand pump boreholes (HPBHs) and two motorised boreholes, with no fewer than 12,500 people in the communities having access to safe drinking water. (NAN)
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