* To produce two million litres of water daily
By Grace Ben Kato
The Kogi State Government has threatened to disconnect water supply from the State Water works to Angwan Tiv and some communities in Lokoja for failure to maintain its service lines.
The Commissioner of Water Resources, Engineer Faruk Danlaladi, made the threat yesterday, while inspecting resumption of water distribution from old Lokoja Water works to some communities in the state.
He expressed disappointment over the non-challant attitude of the Angwan Tiv community to fix their broken pipes and allowing water wastage.
According to him, his office had earlier organised community engagement meetings, after the first release of water in 2024, with the community, stakeholders and plumbers union of the state, to sensitise them on the need to maintain their personal pipes. “Right now, more pipes have broken down right into people’s compound and they are waiting for us to come and fix it for them.
“We have taken note of burst pipes on the main transmission lines that belongs to Government and actions will be taken soon. What we are saying is the service lines that are personal to people, which are right in front of their houses, broken and they are looking at them.
“They are waiting for government. With less than 5000 naira, those burst pipes will be fixed. This is the same water they spend average of 10,000 to 15,000 naira to get.
“I bet you, without sounding immodest, we are going to shut them down permanently and will divert the water to people who need it. They don’t need it, he said.
The Commissioner, who disclosed that Government will produce two million litres of water daily, said, Governor Usman Ahmed Ododo, had directed the Ministry of Water Resources, to think outside the box and ameliorate the suffering of the people in the state.
“Without interrupting power supply, the upgraded Lokoja Watet Works, which has a daily production capacity of one million litres, can be able to produce two million litres daily, with holding capacity of about 3.45 million litres.
“If we have 24 to 36 hours of uninterrupted power supply, we will be able to fill the tank and ration along two axis in the state. Lokoja populace will get water supply every two days.”
He however, mentioned that the Government Reserved Area (GRA), will not be affected by the rationing arrangement, as it has a separate dedicated 300,000 capacity tank.
The Commissioner who was satisfied with the volume of water supply during the tour, noted that the water released, was from the old Lokoja Water Works which was resuscitated, upgraded, increased production and supplied to one of the tanks designed along the Greater Water Works to supply water to the larger population.
“It is still a work in progress. With what we have seen today, it has given us direction on further repairs and maintenance,” he said.
Speaking on the Greater Water Works which was affected by the 2022 flood and communities which get their water supply from it, Government he said is working on how to get water to the area, since it has no connection with the old Lokoja Water Works.
“We can send water to Tank A for Greater Water Works, but because of the capacity, it will take four days uninterrupted power supply and continuous pumping to fill tank A. It will involve a lot.
“Government is working and thinking of how to get water to Ganaja. While procurement processes for the Greater Water Works is ongoing, technical auditing has been completed. We will update next month to see how we can segment resuscitation work there”, he said.
