Inaugurating 70 million litres of a water scheme in the 9 Mile area of the state, the governor disclosed that another water scheme at the Oji River area of the state with an additional 50 million litres of water daily has been completed.
The projects, according to the governor, have the capacity to deliver 120 million litres of water daily to the Enugu metropolis and its suburbs.
Mbah explained that the projects were in fulfillment of his campaign promises that all parts of Enugu metropolis would begin to enjoy uninterrupted water supply within his 180 days in office.
He noted that the timely delivery of the projects followed the realisation that the challenge of water supply is fundamental to the achievement of his objective to take the state’s GDP from the current position of $4.4 billion to $30 billion within the next four to eight years.
“It was clear to us, that the status of water supply at the time was deplorable. At that time, there had been no reliable water supply in most parts of Enugu State for almost 20 years. This led to the situation we are dealing with now, where families have to queue endlessly to fetch water from tanker trucks that supply water in a very unreliable and epileptic fashion.
“Businesses, on the other hand, were forced to invest in extensive water infrastructure from tankage to additional reticulation and for large-scale users like hotels, hospitals, etc. Many of them actually had to acquire tanker trucks of their own to afford themselves some reliability of supply.
“One need not be a rocket scientist to discern that few investors will be attracted to the state under such dire circumstances, neither can existing businesses expand to generate additional jobs and economic growth. If anything, these conditions are suffocating businesses and households and leading to unnecessary suffering across the State”, he said.
The governor expressed happiness that as his administration was “inaugurating this new ultra-modern water scheme with a capacity to deliver to businesses and families in Enugu 70 million litres of potable water daily and this is but the first phase.
Mbah said, “In a few weeks, we will also be inaugurating new pumps in the Oji water scheme to enable us to deliver another 50 million litres of water every day. This will give us a total daily delivery of 120 million litres in Enugu, about twice the daily demand of Enugu urban.
“We are currently supplying water at appreciable pressures to Enugu municipality and I can state here and now that pipe-borne water is here to stay. Now the businesses in Enugu can just connect to public water and pay monthly water rates like is the practice in other advanced environments.”
For families on the water pipeline grid, the governor explained that they would have access to water in their homes, while those still outside the grid for the time being, can go to the newly built water galleries nearest to them to fetch clean water.
Mbah used the opportunity to advise residents who have invested in water tankers to put them up for sale and free up capital for other uses.
“For example, we at the Government House, are in the process of decommissioning our tankers to various people for alternative uses. On the part of the families in Enugu, we can now consign to unpleasant memories the sad experiences of coming back after a hard day of work to find that we have run out of water, or the instances of listening to the excuses of the water suppliers as to why they are yet to deliver your water up to two days after the date initially promised,” he added.
