By Anayo Okoli

UMUAHIA—ABIA State Government has said that it is partnering Governments of United States of America, USA, and Belgium to boost water supply in the State.

Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu

The State Commissioner for Public Utilities, Mr. Chidiebere Nwoke who disclosed this in Umuahia, however said that water supply would no longer be social service in the State.

Nwoke said that Abia State Government was working hard to revive public water supply across the state, with the support of the United States of America and Belgium to make life better for the people.

According to him however, when the state’s water schemes were revamped, consumers in the State would pay as water supply would no longer be free of charge.

Nwoke disclosed that the state was close to accessing 20 million Euro loan from a Belgium Bank which would be deployed to rehabilitating moribund water schemes in the state.

He said that the State, upon creation, inherited about 57 water schemes from the Old Imo State and assured the people of better deals in water supply.

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“There is virtually no township in Abia that doesn’t have a water scheme. These things were originally planned. All we need is to find the finances and ensure that they are rehabilitated and that water flows in Abia”, the commissioner said.

To realize this effort, Nwoke said that the government has rehabilitated most of the water schemes at Umuahia South, as well as Ozuitem water scheme which he said would soon be inaugurated even as has disclosed that the rehabilitation of Abiriba water scheme has commenced operation.

Nwoke said his ministry has done underground water and would soon do proper reticulation in order to provide potable water to offices in the new state secretariat.

USAID, he said, was coming to help the state restore public water supply. He said that the agency has carried out a baseline study and has requested the state to build three boreholes and water treatment plant before they would come in with their funds and expertise in the next three months, to enable water to be pumped.

He announced that USAID has already provided hundreds of metering devices that would fixed in various compounds to regulate the billing system.

Nwoke also disclosed that the Government has set machinery in motion to get JDP, an Israeli company, off the rehabilitation of Aba Regional Water Scheme, a contract, he said was awarded by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources but JDP allegedly abandoned the project after accessing about N500 million.

According to him, the rehabilitation of Aba water scheme would commence as soon as the technicalities of the contract were disentangled