As part of the activities to mark his three years anniversary, the Abia State governor, Alex Otti, on Sunday flagged-off the rehabilitation of the N1.3bn Ubakala Water Scheme and Ariaria Water Scheme Projects Aba.
Flagging-off the two water schemes at Ubakala, Umuahia South Local Government Area, Otti thanked the Mercy Corps for their assistance extended to Abia State, stating that by the flagging-off of the Ubakala Water Scheme, the Ariaria Water Scheme is equally flagged-off and two of them would be inaugurated at the same time.
“I want to thank them for this support and their resilience. N1.3 Billion is a lot of money and we cannot take it for granted. As we flag it off, we will assume that we have flagged-off the two projects. So, when we return here again, it will be for commissioning the water scheme,” the governor said.
He described water as critical to life, hence, his government’s decision to take it as a critical project, adding, “Water is so critical to life and a lot of people have passed on because of unsafe water.
“That is why this government has taken it as critical project, one of her critical projects, to ensure that we have potable water across the State.”
Otti also disclosed that the Aba regional water project has reached 95% completion.
In his speech, the state Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, said the water project aligns with the objectives of the Abia Integrated WASH Accelerated Programme earlier inaugurated by Otti, noting, “This is the third time that the flag-off of these projects has been planned.
“The first time, we had a date, the financier was on their way to this place, and along Anambra, they were kidnapped. As you know, this project was initially financed by USAID through the Mercy Corps. The second one was in January last year.
“Since then, Gov. Otti has provided leadership and through the support of Mercy Corps last year, we got the private financier who has accepted to finance this project.”
Earlier, the representative of the country Director, Rabiu Sani, explained that the Mercy Corps as a humanitarian organisation, existd in over 40 countries and part of their interventions has touched lives across the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
He noted, “We want to improve livelihood and then we also want to ensure that our projects are sustainable, adding that the scope of the work includes, rehabilitation of the existing boreholes, testing existing pump and rehabilitating some of the pump.”
The rehabilitation projects form part of the Abia state government’s broader efforts to improve access to potable water and strengthen public utilities across the state.
Since assuming office in 2023, Otti’s administration has prioritised infrastructure renewal, including power, roads and water supply, under its development agenda.