Water head tank constructed by NDDC
By SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has embarked on a comprehensive program to improve environmental sanitation, hygiene, health, and water supply in the six states of the North Eastern region, including Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Taraba, and Bauchi states.
As part of this initiative, the commission has awarded contracts and engaged unemployed youths in urban and rural areas to clean drainages and roads, particularly during the rainy season.
According to Ambassador Goni Mohammed Alkali, the Managing Director/CEO of NEDC, the commission has drilled and connected over 50 solar energy-powered boreholes to provide constant power supply daily. Additionally, the commission has cleared over one million meters of drainage networks across the six states.
The commission plans to provide protection tube devices and kits to the youths engaged in the clearance and ensure proper monitoring and supervision by commission staff and contractors. The ongoing inspections of drainage network systems and solar energy boreholes are part of the commission’s monitoring and evaluation exercises to ensure a healthy, conducive, and clean environment, availability of portable drinking water, and access to drilled solar boreholes.
Ambassador Alkali emphasized the importance of collective efforts in addressing environmental challenges and assured sustainability of such projects. He also mentioned plans to gradually reach every part of the communities in each state of the North East zone.
The commission will also explore the possibility of providing immediate and alternative measures to address perennial water problems identified in some areas of the metropolis visited, alongside provisions for future planning of other areas yet to be visited.
In response to community complaints about inadequate waste supply and disposal designated points, Ambassador Alkali stated that the commission has a finance strategy in place to address these issues. He mentioned plans to create dump sites where people can deposit waste, which will be addressed through the provision of facilities to dissect these wells and putting out different effects.
The commission has also drilled over 50 boreholes across Maiduguri and some local government areas, with plans to provide more based on need. The inspections of solar energy-powered boreholes and drainage network systems took the team and media around various sites in Maiduguri, including GRA Fori area, Galtinari ward, New GRA Kashim Shettima road, and other areas.
Ambassador Alkali thanked the media for their objective coverage of the commission’s activities and assured that the commission will provide all necessary working materials and kits to the youths, including pesticides and deodorants, for clearing refuse dumps and drainages.
