A N50 million water project “sponsored” by Shehu Muhammad Koko, the lawmaker who represented Koko Besse/Maiyama Federal Constituency in the 9th assembly has turned into a dump site after it stopped working a day after it was commissioned.
UDEME, a Premium Times platform reports that the project, which is expected to end the lack of potable water in Mungadi Gari communities in Maiyama Local Government Area of Kebbi State, was awarded to Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority (SRRBDA). The company could not be traced as its website was undergoing maintenance. Also, a contact made available on the website appeared to be a “wrong number” when contacted.
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RESIDENTS OF THE WATER-STRAPPED COMMUNITY LAMENT
Mungadi Gari has two phases — Mungadi Gari I and Mungadi Gari II, according to the report. Both communities rely on a contaminated stream.
Ismaila Mungadi, a resident of the community, said he was happy when he heard that a borehole would be drilled in Mugadi I and Mugadi II. But he was disappointed as the project could not serve its purpose.
“We were very happy when the borehole water was commissioned. We thought we could now use the energy of getting water for another thing,” Mungadi said, adding the project stopped a day after it was commissioned. It is now a dumpsite where locals throw their garbage.
“They are not functioning,” he said. “Those that commissioned them just projected them to get their money. They were not standard from the very day they were commissioned, and they stopped working. It was only the day they were commissioned people used them; after that, it stopped working.”
As the project failed to serve its purpose, residents including nursing mothers trek miles to the river where they fetch contaminated water.
Usman Ladan Mungadi, another resident worries about how women trek a long distance to get water. “How women will work around the clock, backing children as they look for water. This always delays them,” he said.
“The distance between Mungadi Gari I to the river is about 500 meters, and that of Mungadi Gari II to the stream is 1000 meters,” Ladan revealed.
The lawmaker, when contacted, “refused” to answer questions about the project.
‘I only facilitated zonal intervention projects, mostly solar and not capital projects. You are to ask the government for a capital project. You can check out the communities in the evening; you will see street lights working almost everywhere,’’ he said, sidestepping the enquiries.
