The Federal Capital Territory Administration has said it is committed to the timely completion of the ongoing Abuja water works project, so as to adequately meet the water needs of residents of the territory.
FCT, Malam Muhammad Bello, made the commitment when he conducted members of the Senate Committee on FCT who were on oversight function round the FCT water works and other project sites in Abuja.
Bello, who conducted members of the Senate Committee on FCT round the water works and other project sites in Abuja, said the project was conceived to solve water problems in many parts of the city.
He appealed to the lawmakers to pay urgent attention to the project, so that the administration will meet up with its 20 percent counterpart funding for the project.
In his remarks, the chairman of the committee, Senator Tolu Odebiyi, said the purpose of the project tour was to determine FCT’s priority projects, so as to know where to appropriate funds to, during budget presentation.
Odebiyi noted that having seen the projects and their importance, he would galvanize the support of other lawmakers to ensure that the water works and other projects were completed in time.
“We want to know what their priority projects are so that when they present their budgets, we will know which funds to be made available for which project.
“I must also commend the FCTA team for the extent of the work which they are doing. We have seen a number of projects and we are highly impressed.
“The Greater Abuja Water Works is also very impressive work and is being funded by China EXIM bank, a foreign currency bank. I think it is important that we look at that so that we can make plans for the counterpart funding,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Project Manager of CGC, Zhang Xiang, the contractor handling the project, said the speed of the water works was being slowed down by paucity of funds.
Xiang urged the lawmakers to expedite action on the release of the 20 percent counterpart funding which Nigerian government through FCT was supposed to provide.
According to him, the China EXIM bank has released about $150 million dollars from its 80 percent counterpart funding, and may not release more if the FCTA fails to provide its own 20 percent.
