Osun Begins Replacement Of Old Water Pipes

Mr. Owojuyigbe Olugbenga, the General Manager, Osun Water Corporation says work has begun the replacement of old water pipes with plastic pipes.

Olugbenga told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo that 13 local government areas would be covered under the project.

He said that the project would be extended to other parts of the state soonest.

He said the corporation had embarked on the expansion of water schemes and distribution networks to all parts of the state, to ensure accessibility to pipe borne water.

According to him, it is expected that the ongoing pipes replacement will be completed in two months while other water schemes will receive government’s attention.

“Hopefully, all residents of Osun will have access to pipe borne water by the end of this year.“

Commenting on abandoned water projects, the General Manager said “abandoned water projects in the state are Federal government intervention projects.

“These intervention water projects are in Ilesa, Ile-Ife and Mukoro. Thank God that work has resumed at the Ilesa water project.

“But Ile-Ife and Mukoro water schemes are yet to feel the impact of the Federal Government intervention scheme for the past two years.

“We were invited to Abuja in 2012 for the Presidential Water Summit, where government promised that all abandoned water projects would be revived.

Up till now, nothing has been done but another summit is coming up soon where the issue will be raised again,“ Olugbenga noted.

In a separate interview, an expert in environment planning, Dr. Wale Alade, underscored the need to ensure the safety of water projects in all 30 local governments of the state.

Alade, who is a consultant to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, decried the activities of vandals who usually tampered with underground water pipes and other pipes.

“Our environment should be preserved and well guarded in order to prevent any form of abuse and there should be adequate regulations to avoid degradation of land.”

Some stakeholders in the sector, especially producers of table and sachet water said that the erratic supply of pipe borne water had a negative impact on their businesses.

They said that the irregular of water supply had forced some of them to dig boreholes for the sustenance of their businesses.

Mr. Michael Bolade, a sachet water producer resident at Ayetoro area, said that the ongoing road construction which affected water pipes also contributed to their problem.

Bolade urged the government to address the problem associated with broken pipes and extend its water projects to areas that lacked pipe borne water.

A cross section of residents of Ori-oke, Ilupeju and NECO areas in the state capital, said there was outright lack of pipe borne water in the areas.

According to Mr. Adelani Ezekiel, a landlord at Ilupeju, the neighbourhood depends solely on boreholes.

“We are lucky to have big men who have boreholes in their compounds and they give water to people free of charge.“

He, however, said that people in the area faced problems of water scarcity whenever there was power failure.

Ezekiel appealed to the state government to extend its ongoing water projects to the area so that the people could “have a taste of the dividends of democracy.”