Plateau government and Chinese company, China Geochemical Company (CGC) has signed an €8 million (N13.7 billion) contract for the rehabilitation of the Laminga and Yakubu Gowon Dams.

The LOT 11 Plateau State Urban Water Supply Project (PSUWSP) is a counterpart funded project with assistance from the French Development Agency (AFD) and includes the reticulation and replacing old and laying of new plants within the Jos and Bukuru greater masterplan.

Speaking at the signing ceremony at Government House, Little Rayfield, Jos on Friday, Secretary to the Government of Plateau State, Samuel Jatau, said that the water project is a testament to the fact that the government is desirous ofmaking water available to the people of the state.

He said that the initial contract was signed by the last administration but was abandoned.

Jatau said, “The contract was inherited from the last administration, in 2019, but no serious action wad taken. due to lack of payment of counterpart funding.

He said that as an agricultural state, apart from domestic use water is seriously needed for agricultural projects, adding that though the government had received severe criticisms over the problem of water, it had tried to mitigate the problem using other means.

“We are all aware that water is life, and without water we cannot thrive. Agriculture is one of our focal areas as a government and we need water for farming and irrigation. I know that this government has faced criticism from public that we do not care about water, but I think part of that is politics, because even without this contract being signed, or this project moving forward, government has tried to mitigate the problem of water using other means like the procurement of trucks, water tankers and drilling of boreholes.”

He charged the contractors to be conscious of the fact that the contract has timelines and to be completed by 2026

According to him, the contract has value chain as the people will be employed as laborers and contractors.

Managing Director of the Chinese firm, Ke You Cheng, promised that the company will abide by the terms of the contract.

Commissioner for Water Resources, Bashir Lawandi, said that the government will mitigate the effects of the rehabilitation of the two major dams by using water trucks to provide water to communities in the state.