By Muhammad Aliyu
Dutse
As part of their efforts to ensure the provision clean drinking water at rural areas, the European Union, under its supported water supply and sanitation sector Reform programme (WSSSRP) and Department for International Development (DFID), in collaboration have drilled a total of 780 hand-pumps across communities in eight local councils of Jigawa state.
The benefiting local governments were Birnin Kudu, Buji, Kiyawa, Gagaraw, Kafin Hausa, Birmiwa, Gwiwa and Roni.
Managing Director, state Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Engineer Labaran Adamu, stated this yesterday while fielding questions from newsmen in Dutse, the state capital.
He said the DIFD had constructed 25 blocks of toilets in 240 primary schools in eight local government areas of the state – one for female students and one for the males.
He said on its part, the state government, through his Agency, was constructing 150 boreholes as constituency projects for all 287 political wards at the cost of N74 million, adding that the work had reached 83 per cent completion level.
On sanitation, the managing director revealed that under the DFID support programme, 583 villages had 440 toilets to discard open defaecation (ODT).
According to him, the remaining 17 per cent will be achieved before the end of this year, while 80 communities were to be certified, and that DFID has achieved 50 per cent in reducing open defaecation.
