Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Enugu State Commissioner for Water Resources, Dr Felix Nnamani, on Saturday inaugurated three boreholes built by United States-based philanthropist, Sunday Egbo, for Amofia Amagu community in Enugu.
Amaofia Amagu is in Nara Unateze in Enugu East Council Areas of the State, and the boreholes are seen as measures to reduce long-standing water challenges facing the people of the community.
The three solar-powered boreholes are located at Obodo Egbo square, Obodo Ikoro Amagu Square and OgoAgu Ihuoma village, all within the community.
Inaugurating the project, Nnamani said the boreholes would alleviate the difficulties the community was facing in getting clean and safe drinking water.
He commended Egbo for thinking about home and investing in it, saying that what he had done was in line with Gov. Peter Mbah’s policy of providing water to people in the rural areas.
“The governor said I should thank you immensely,” he told Egbo.
The commissioner noted that in the past 20 years, there has been no water in Enugu, adding that during his political campaign, Mbah promised to fix water in Enugu within 180 days which looked impossible.
“But today, we have 70 million litres of water at water project sited at 9th Mile and has generated another 50 million at Oji-River water scheme making it 120 million litres of daily water supply for Enugu metropolis for their consumption and use.
“We did not only change all the pressure pumps, we changed the asbestos pipes to modern ones and cleaned all the reservoirs in Enugu to ensure quality water.
“There was no quality assurance of water until the governor decided to give Enugu people clean and safe drinking water,” he said.
Nnamani explained that the challenge they were facing currently was the reticulation lines, saying “all we have from the colonial era was asbestos pipes, most of which had gone bad.
“As we generate 120 million litres of water, you will see the pipes bursting due to weaknesses of those asbestos pipes.
“Mbah is delivering in all fronts; he is changing the educational sector by building 260 SMART Schools across all the electoral wards in Enugu and in health he is building 260 health centres across board.
“The roads are receiving serious attention as he is doing 81 urban roads and other rural roads simultaneously. All we beg you is your time, support and patience,” he said.
While calling on other well-meaning individuals in the state to emulate what Egbo did by contributing to community development, Nnamani advised women in the community to set up a committee on water management to ensure its sustainability.
Speaking earlier, Egbo who hailed from the community said his desire to provide water came as result of challenges his community was facing in getting water.
He stressed that while in the U.S., he never forgot his childhood experiences from the community on how he and other young boys trekked far distances to fetch water before going to school.
“My community needs water and as a young boy growing up in this village, I knew how difficult it was to get clean and safe water.
“Everybody is supposed to have access to clean water and I urge the community to take ownership of the project and make good use of it,” Egbo advised.
