In a suspicious manner, over N200 million was allocated for the construction of solar street lights and solar motorised boreholes in Bassa as well as other places in Plateau State, but they could not be “found” anywhere.
According to a report by UDEME, a public project tracking owned by Premium Times’ Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), the project appeared in the 2021 and 2022 budget years, each with different amounts.
The platform reported that N200 million was allocated to Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority for the ‘Construction of Solar Street Lights, Solar Motorised Boreholes in Bassa and Other Various Communities in Plateau State’. in 2021 Zonal Intervention Project (ZIP). The same project reappeared in 2022 ZIP and was inflated by N50 million.
RESIDENTS SUFFER ACUTE WATER SCARCITY
Residents waiting for water at Tudun Wada / UDEME
In Tudun Wada community, Bassa LGA, Plateau State, residents queued to get water that is rarely available.
Salomi Ishaya, a mother of three explained that getting water had not been easy.
“I cannot sleep well at night because I don’t have water in the house, and my children and my husband will have to bathe, and we need the water to cook. I came here around 4 a.m., and it is just one container. See what the time is [10:12 a.m.]. It is very hard for us here. See now, no water, no light, and for me, when I go to my shop, nobody comes to buy anything. Things are hard, and this water scarcity just made things worse,” she said.
She added: “During the rainy season we use rainwater, and some of the wells that are in good condition also help us, but now you will wish you even got the dirty one from the well, but it is not there again.”
Forty-seven years old Asabe Samson, shares a similar experience. The mother of four who lives at Kpatenvie Village in Bassa LGA, said her children have been going to school late all because of the difficulties in getting water.
“My two older daughters are the ones who go for the water; before they come back, the time is gone, and they will have to get the water to prepare for school. The wells are dried up, and some will have to wait for the water to gather,” Asabe explained. “The borehole here does not usually serve us; you only fetch it in the evening when the water has been pumped. I don’t like it, but they will go to school late because they get us water to use in the morning.”
Plateau Locals Hold Meetings Elsewhere as Town Hall Construction Project Hangs
Golnen Ntal, a graduate of the University of Jos who resides with his family house at Angwan Dutse in Jos North LGA, also shares his ordeal.
“We get water from the waterboard just two times a week, Thursdays and Saturdays. Sometimes the water does not rush for up to 2 hours; considering our population, this is not enough, and when you go to the well, there is no sufficient water. We need a sufficient water supply here so that students, workers, and everyone will go about their normal lives without problems,” said Ntal.
WHO NOMINATED THE PROJECT?
The project was said to be nominated by a House of Representatives member for Bassa/Jos North Federal Constituency. However, efforts to get in touch with the exact lawmaker who nominated the project proved abortive.
When contacted, Musa Agah Avia who emerged victorious for a seat in the 9th National Assembly to represent the Bassa/Jos North federal constituency in the February 26, 2022 bye-election, said: “I am not in the picture; I was in the house briefly and got sacked by the tribunal.” Avia, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was elected after the demise of Haruna Maitala who died in a car accident in April 2021.
Also, an enquiry was sent to the current lawmaker, Muhammad Adam Alkali, but he is yet to respond as of the time UDEME published its reports.
Similarly, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent to the executing agency, the Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority, was not responded to.
However, Nangor Ndam, the Public Relations Officer of the Plateau State Water Board, explained that water scarcity around Jos is linked to “the collapse of the national grid that greatly affected the treatment plant. The building of a flyover bridge at the British-American junction is also a problem because the main pipelines supplying water to central Jos metropolis have been removed to make way for the construction work.”
