The Ebonyi Government says efforts are in top gear to complete the construction of the Oferekpe Water Scheme to boost water supply in the state.
The Commissioner for Water Resources, Chief Sunday Inyima, said this on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki.
Inyima said that government was determined to find a lasting solution to the scarcity of pipe borne water in parts of the state.
He said that distribution of water from the project would have commenced in 2020 but was hindered by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
He further said that the present public water supply to Abakaliki metropolis was from the Ezilo water scheme.
“The Oferekpe water scheme suffered a setback because the expatriate contractors handling the project travelled home during the 2019 Christmas holiday.
“And just as we entered into 2020, COVID-19 pandemic set in and so they could not fly back because of the lockdown.
“It was in January that some of them came back to Nigeria and we hope that by the middle of this year, the project will be ready.
“This will enable us to reduce the pressure on Ezilo water scheme,” Inyima said.
He further said that government would ensure that residents, who connected legally to the water grid, had regular water supply to their homes.
He blamed the broken pipes and other damage, leading to water wastage to vandalism, bush burning, illegal connection and building of houses and fences on water pipe ways.
He said : “It will be correct to say that most of the burst pipes were destroyed by people, who build on our water pipe installations.
“Some people also break the pipes to illegally connect water to their houses.
“And because they lack the technical know-how to fix them, they just leave them, thus causing massive waste whenever we pump water.”
Inyima promised that his ministry would fix the faulty pipes and appealed to residents to desist from destroying water installations and government property in their areas.
“When you break a pipe to connect water illegally, you have actually shortchanged that customer who followed legal process from enjoying our service,” he said.