Delta State Commissioner for Water Resources Development, Hon Isaac Tosan Wilkie, on Tuesday appeared before the State Assembly Committee oversighting his Ministry to defend its 2024 budget proposals.
Hon Wilkie told the Perkins Umukoro-led Committee that N2.02bn had been proposed for capital projects, which would make the MORE agenda of the Oborevwori administration significantly impactful on the people in the water sector
They projects include the rehabilitation of water schemes across the state, construction of new water schemes in riverine and upland areas, provision of hybrid water scheme at Idumuje-Ugboko, development of faecal sludge flood control, water, sanitation and hygiene in emergency situations.
Others are counterpart fund for the World Bank-assisted Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme (SURWASH) for which N200m had been proposed and equipping of the Ministry’s laboratory located in the premises of the Delta State Urban Water Corporation.
He explained that the laboratory was currently moribund due to lack of modern equipment, revealing that the Ministry relied on laboratories in Onitsha for its quality control duties, which were not only expensive but inconvenient.
Hon Wilkie also made a case for adequate budgetary provisions for the State Urban Water Corporation, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Agency and the State Water Sector Regulatory Commission.
The Commissioner, who had earlier briefed the House Committee on the performance of the 2023 budget, stated that the Ministry was allocated the sum of N2.04bn for capital expenditure and had an outstanding commitment of N1.1bn as at June, 2023, which would be sorted out from the 2024 capital vote.
He appealed to the Committee to allow the Ministry’s proposals to fly to enable it address the myriad of challenges in the water sector, stressing that water was a vital basic need for public health and economic growth.
Responding to the Commissioner’s presentation, the Committee Chairman, Hon Pino Ohwonano,, representing Isoko South 1 Constituency, and some of the members, including Hon Marilyn Daramola-Okowa and Hon Pereotu Oloye, stressed the importance of water to life and pledged to make the Ministry more productive so that it could contribute meaningfully to driving the MORE agenda of the Oborevwori administration.
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