The Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Nigeria has approved US $2.1m for the extension of consultancy services on Kontagora-Auna Dam and Irrigation Project in Niger State. According to the Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, the council approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to extend the services of the consultants by three years.
Kontagora-Auna Dam and Irrigation Project
Kontagora-Auna Dam was initiated in 1985 but abandoned in 2010 after reaching 61% completion. However, in late 2017, FEC approved US $111m for the resuscitation and completion of the Dam with the price having hiked from US $24.6m.
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The resuscitation was as a result of the ministry’s efforts to complete ongoing projects. According to the minister, the ministry carried out a technical audit of all the ongoing projects in the ministry at the beginning of 2016 and the Kontagora-Auna Dam project was ranked as among the top priority projects.
“We have concluded a Technical Audit and prioritized the hitherto uncompleted or abandoned 116 major projects that I met in the Ministry. We are deploying most of our resources towards completing and commissioning all the high and medium priority projects from 2016 – 2019. Our plan is to complete 7 other ongoing Water Supply Projects and 21 Dam and Irrigation Projects between 2018 and 2019, including the Kontagora Auna Dam Project,” he affirmed in late 2017.
