Niger communities lament lack of potable water

Residents of Nassarawa ward in Chachaga Local Government Area of Niger State have called on the state government to provide potable water to communities in the area to alleviate their sufferings. The affected communities are Bahago, Tayi, Anguwan Biri and Abattoir.

Speaking to National Mirror, in Minna, yesterday, leader of the youths in the affected communities, Mallam Musa Techno, said some of the towns have not had water for over 10 years.. He said the development forced residents to depend totally on water vendors for their needs, adding that even the boreholes sunk by the local government last year to assist the people were no longer functioning. He stated: “We are asking the state government to take urgent steps to ensure that the water problem of the wards is addressed to reduce the sufferings of the people.

This water issue is also forcing students of Bahago secondary school to leave their hostels early each morning to look for water before going to school and this is not right.” In her reaction, Commissioner for Water Resources, Hajia Hadiza Abdullahi, said the water problem in the affected areas would be addressed as soon as the ministry got its 2012 budgetary allocation. She explained that N79m is required to fix water pipes connecting the affected areas with the main source of water supply. She added that “the state government is committed to the provision of potable water in all the nooks and crannies of the state capital this year.”