Katsina Unveils NG-SURWASH Project Monitoring Committee

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Katsina State Government has inaugurated a stakeholders and supervision committee on Nigeria Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme (NG-SURWASH) project in the state.

Inaugurated under the Katsina Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (STWSSHA) on Wednesday, the 13-member committee is headed by Alhaji Rabiu Gambo-Bakori, a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) treasurer, North-west zone.

While inaugurating the committee, the Executive Director of STWSSHA, Ibrahim Lawal-Dankaba, said the committee is saddled with the responsibility of supervising ongoing NG-SURWASH projects to ensure qualitative job.

He tasked members of the committee to ensure that all the ongoing projects and those that will be initiated under NG-SURWASH will be of great quality that can stand the test of time.

He explained that the members of the committee comprises critical stakeholders within the project areas that are expected to take ownership during their monitoring exercise in order to avert shoddy jobs.

Lawal-Dankaba said: “The main committee is a 13-member committee headed by Alhaji Rabiu Gambo-Bakori and there are other committees at the various levels within the project areas.

“This is a people-oriented project that World Bank and His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Katsina State, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda, have brought into the state to ameliorate the suffering of the people.”

While proclaiming that Katsina is a leading state among the seven NG-SURWASH implementing states, Lawal-Dankaba urged stakeholders to key into the project in order to assuage the suffering of the rural dwellers.

Responding, the chairman of the committee, Gambo-Bakori, said members of the committee would discharge their duties effectively without fear or favour.

He said the era of awarding and abandoning government projects was over in the state “because we will ensure that all projects under NG-SURWASH are completed”.

Meanwhile, NG-SURWASH is a World Bank supported programme aimed at expanding access to clean water and enhancing the use of WASH services in urban, rural and small towns in the country.

The $700 million programme is currently implemented in Katsina, Kaduna, Gombe, Plateau, Imo and Ekiti States with support from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

In Katsina, the NG-SURWASH project is being implemented in seven local government areas of Charanchi, Batagarawa, Daura, Baure, Funtua, Kafur and Kankara.