Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The connection of Ogoniland to the national electricity grid, as well as alternative energy sources like solar and windmill will be utilized in sustaining the provision of potable water to Ogoni communities.
This was part of the resolutions reached by Ogoni stakeholders at the workshop on
Sustainable Potable Water Supply to Ogoni Communities, Challenges and Solutions,
organized by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The provision of potable water was an emergency measure recommended by UNEP in its report in 2011; hence since the water scheme kicked off in 2021, HYPREP has completed most water facilities in Eleme, Khana, Gokana and Tai LGAs, while reticulation into the communities are also ongoing.
Speaking at the workshop on Potable Water Sustainability in Ogoni, Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Dr Ferdinand Giadom, assured that reticulation will be expanded to other communities not captured in the UNEP Report.
Giadom said the workshop was imperative as lack of sustainability framework was the challenge facing water projects in Ogoniland, adding that HYPREP would explore alternative energy sources to power the water schemes in Ogoni.
He revealed that HYPREP would train residents of benefiting communities on how to maintain the water facilities, assuring the stakeholders that President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to the total Implementation of the UNEP Report on Ogoniland.
“A water scheme that will train local hands to maintain to standard the facilities that we are installing. A water scheme that the people can call their own in every sense of the word for its protection and profitability. A water scheme that its model can be replicated in other communities of the Niger Delta. This water scheme we believe will put a final stop to the problem of water shortage in Ogoniland.
“As our first and right step forward in this move to draw up a sustainability plan for the HYPREP Water project, we have come up with the idea of connecting Ogoniland to the national grid and we have already commenced discussions with the relevant authorities to that effect.
“Alternative energy sources are also being planned. There is the existing plan of training the community people on the maintenance of the water facilities when HYPREP hands over the water plants to the communities.”
In a keynote presentation, titled Sustainability of HYPREP Community Water Project, a Professor of Engineering and Environmental Geology, Prof. Enovie Akpokodje, emphasized collaboration and effective participation between HYPREP and the communities in the water project.
Akpokodje made a case for mentainance of the water facility, said the communities should take responsibility, adding that a sustainable water project starts with a good sustainable plan and a reliable source of ground water.
High point of the workshop with the theme: “Sustainable Potable Water Supply to Ogoni Communities, Challenges and Solutions” was setting up of Ogoni Water Strategy Framework Drafting Committee, to come up with a reliable plan to sustain the water project.
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