The government of Nigeria has inaugurated drinking water supply facilities in Malete, Kwara State in the western part of the country. Nigerian Minister of Water Resources, in the presence of Adeniyi Saheed Aremu, the Executive Director of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA) inaugurated the facilities which were part of a water project in the area.
The water project
The project involved construction of a dam 8.2m high and 400m wide on a river passing near the town of Malete. A pumping station was also installed in the middle of the reservoir. Through a pipe, the water is conveyed to two treatment plants. The first is an existing facility with a capacity of 540 m³/day. The second, larger one has a capacity of 1,200 cubic metres of drinking water per day.
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The project was carried out by Turning Point Engineering, a company based in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara. The government had released US $134,000 for the project which also involved rehabilitation of drinking water facilities in several localities. According to the Kwara State Government, the project will contribute to the sixth sustainable development objective (SDO).
Water supply to the population is one of the priorities of the local government. In Lafiagi in the north of the state, the aim is to rehabilitate four of the five boreholes that pump water from the groundwater table. In the south, specifically in Igbaja, there are plans to rehabilitate water treatment facilities. The government will also increase the amount of electricity produced to operate the facilities.
