SURWASH Raises Alarm Over Implementation Bottlenecks

Halfway through the six-year period for the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) to implement its mandate, the seven participating states are alleging undue interference by the supervising ministry.

The programme consists of financing through a $700m investment financing instrument that is being used to facilitate technical assistance for states and selected implementing institutions to address critical institutional development.

Participating states, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Katsina and Plateau, are expected to fund projects from their state budgets and after verification by an independent verification agent before reimbursement by the World Bank.

However, Abdullahi Korau, a SURWASH official in one of the participating states, said that presently, midway into the programme, the sudden and immediate removal of the National Coordinator is impacting the project’s operations.

He said that implementing states are currently expected to give gratification before their entitlements are processed for payment and, therefore, called on the federal government to intervene in the matter.

The SURWASH programme was designed to ensure that assets and services for WASH are sustainably managed and accessible to all Nigerians, achievable by 2030, and to meet the SDG targets 6.1 & 6.2 for water and sanitation.

The programme is the culmination of the collective and relentless drive of the Federal Ministry of Resources which began in 2019 with a view to support the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) for the revitalization of Nigeria’s WASH sector that was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2018, launched by President Muhammadu Buhari as he declared a state of emergency in the WASH sector.