Kano State Government has assured residents of its frantic efforts to restore water supply to addressing the excruciating difficulties residents battle with scarcity of clean water in the state.
Amid the acute shortage still, the government said a whooping sum of N1.2 billion is being expended on water resources and supply monthly.
The State Commissioner for Water Resources, Dr Ali Haruna Makoda, disclosed this while reacting to the situation of water supply and pains of residents in the state.
Although, Makoda emphasized government’s state what he described as tirelessly efforts to address the current scarcity of the essential commodity, the commissioner heaped the blamed of the scarcity on obsolete equipments at Tamburawa Water Treatment Plant.
According to Makoda, monthly expenditure on water resources include purchase of diesel at a cost of N400 million, N387 million on Chemical procurement and settlement of electricity bills to the tune of N280 million.
He added that the Government inherited a near decay in the water sector from the previous administration which did not give the necessary attention to portable water supply.
“We are working tirelessly to fix the prevailing water scarcity in the state capital and its environs, and the problem will soon be over. The current high temperature being experienced in the area is also to blame for the water shortage because people consume higher volumes of water to cope with the weather”.
Makoda further disclosed that during the tenure of the last administration the commissioner said, only 20 percent of the state’s water needs was supplied,which he said was grossly inadequate.
“But on assumption of office, our administration has been able to supply more than 60 percent of the water needs of our people. We are deeply committed to ensuring that there is enough drinking water in Kano, which is why the Government of Abba Kabir Yusuf is doing all it can, including committing enormous resources, to providing enough portable drinking water in and around the ancient city,”
He stated that the Government had entered into a collaborative agreement with the French Government to spend 63.4 million Euros for the Construction of the third Kano Water Treatment Plant.