Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Directorate also known as RUWASSA in partnership with WaterAid Nigeria have launched a 133 million Naira water and sanitation intervention project in the Bwari area council of the territory.
The project which was funded by the Latter Day Saints Charity (LDSC) is expected to be executed within one year, to strengthen Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) delivery in four selected communities namely; Dakwa, Barangoni, Zuma II, and Tudun Fulani within Bwari Area council.
Also, the project will focus on increasing access to WASH services by constructing and rehabilitating solar-powered water facilities as well as provision of gender-inclusive public sanitation facilities in the selected communities
The executive director of FCT RUWASSA, Mohammed Dan-Hassan, while delivering his remark, said the initiative will serve as a model for improved access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in FCT communities.
Dan-Hassan disclosed that two communities will be provided with two new water schemes, one community will get rehabilitation of an existing water scheme, while there will be the provision of a sanitation facility.
“We have ceremoniously launched the project, and we hope to see the implementation in the next two to three months towards its completion in these communities, thereafter, we intend to integrate the community members into it, as a strategy to ensure sustainability. The community members on the project will help maintain and take care of it themselves.
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“So, in the months ahead, we will come back and see the facilities functioning, that will make us happy, and we will seek other partnerships to replicate this project in other communities in Bwari Area Council and even other Area Councils of the FCT,” he said.
Also, Elder Idyo Egbo of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the sponsors of the project, said the Church noticed the gap that exists in sanitation and water supply, and in its philanthropic nature decided to partner with WaterAid to provide water and sanitation for the people in the selected communities.
He added that the Church believes in uplifting the lives of the people, looking at how people can be better off and Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs) help to forge partnerships in such interventional.
“In Abuja, about 70 percent of people lack access to adequate water supply, and 52 per cent of these people also suffer from living in an unhygienic environment, and there is another 30 per cent that seriously are affected by open defecation. So we believe that this project will assist in reducing that number. But particularly, it will change attitudes and behaviours.
“I believe with what we have done, we will see an improvement in the living standard of people, especially in areas that are outside the metropolitan city of Abuja,” he said.
