By: Monday Munkaila, Gombe
The Gombe State Government has reiterated its resilience in ensuring the provision of safe drinking water and clean environment.
The government’s position was made known by the State Deputy Governor, Manassah Daniel Jatau, while responding to Gombe SURWASH team together with representatives from World Bank, the Federal and State Ministries of Water Resources who paid him a courtesy call in his office.
The team led by the National Project Coordinator of SURWASH Abdulhammid Gwaram was in the state for a mid term program performance review, two and half years into the Sustainable, Urban, Rural, Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) to which Gombe is a participants.
Receiving the team in his office, the Deputy Governor, said the administration considers water and sanitation as first ingredient upon which health depends and highlighted that they have provided the political will and the relevant infrastructure like roads to enhance faster access to healthcare for the overall interest of the people in the state.
He expressed concerned over the economic situation that hinders the progress of the SURWASH in the state.and reassured of the commitment to overcoming the challenge because of the importance of the program to the people.
According to him, ” Let me commend you for coming to assess the SURWASH) programme, mid term in the state. Any project conceived and not monitored is better not started because supervision assesses the level of performance and ensures it is done within specification towards achieving the goal of the project.”
He stressed that,”The mid-teem review you did is a feedback mechanism that tells us what we have done so far and where we need to improve upon. We have heard the report and be assured that we are surely going to improve on our performance.”.
He encouraged the relevant actors involved in the review to take note of the observation raised by the team for government to take necessary actions.
” Let me call on all actors to put all efforts and not to hesitate liasing with all those concern for us to improve” he stressed.
The Deputy Governor also advised that public toilets be provided at various points within the state as obtained in other countries so as to curtail open defecation and ensure clean environment.
In their separate remarks, National Coordinator SURWASH, Mr. Abdulhamid Gwaram, and Mr. Naseer Majidi , a Water, Supply and Sanitation Specialist said economic challenges prevailing in the country has affected the implementation of the program.
They explained that the mid term performance review will serve as a background for fine-tuning and restructuring of the project.
In her submission, Hajiya Zara Goni who is the World Bank’s Senior Social Development Specialist applauded the state government’s commitment towards the project implementation.
She said Gombe is the only participating state in the northeast sub region , maintaining that the replication of the project across other states in the zone depends largely on the Gombe state’s commitment and successful implementation of the program.
The team was accompanied by the Commissioner, Ministry of Water, Environment and Forestry Resources, Alh. Mohammed Saidu Fawu and Special Adviser, Donor Partners Coordination Office, Dr. Ishaku Babayo as well as Permanent Secretaries and Directors as contained in a statement by Wilson Jonah Yakubu, Press Secretary/Information Officer, Deputy Governor’s Office, Gombe State.
