Gov Ishaku to ensure reliable water and sanitation services cover 90 percent of Taraba

By Bala Dan Abu

Taraba State Governor, Arc Darius Dickson Ishaku, has said his administration is working hard to ensure that reliable water and sanitation services reach 90 percent of the state before the end of its second tenure. This will include remote and mountainous terrains.
Gov Ishaku made this disclosure during a teleconference between Taraba State and the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, recently.

During the teleconference a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, was signed online to formalize a new partnership to improve the management and delivery of Water and Sanitation, WASH, services. The programme is to help the people of the state live healthier lives through reliable access to clean water.

The MOU signed by the two partners underlines the commitments on their part to jointly develop a professionally managed, commercially oriented and accountable state water board.
This will be achieved by improving the water board’s financial viability and strengthening policy, institutional and regulatory frameworks for better WASH service delivery.

The USAID is promoting a 60.4 million Dollar “Effective Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (E-WASH) services in five states including Taraba. The programme is aimed at increasing access to clean water and reduce water borne diseases by strengthening their water board’s capacity to making solid investment decisions, improve billing and collection systems and ensure greater responsiveness to customer concerns.

Governor Ishaku described the MOU as a a remarkable milestone. “We believe we have the potential to provide not only the best water service delivery in the country but in all Africa.”

In the next four years, USAID’s E-Wash will spur the mobilization of an additional 50 million Dollars from public and private sources. It will also provide access to piped clean water to, at least, 500,000 households.Other participating states in USAID E-WASH programme are Delta, Abia, Imo and Niger.

Also speaking at the conference, Mr Stephen M. Haykin, USAID Mission Director, said COVID-19 pandemic has added greater emphasis to the importance of water sanitation and hygiene. “The collaboration marked by this agreement will help Taraba chart a part towards a better performing water board and will raise the quality of services for the health of their customers.

Taraba is the first among the beneficiary states to key into the plan of action since the Federal Government’s declaration of clean water as a national emergency. Ishaku is also the first governor to conduct the visual meeting with USAID E-WASH programme on water supply.