NAN-AE-9
Toilets
Katsina, March 28, 2017 (NAN) The Katsina State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), says it will disburse N12.8 million loans to 256 households in Bakori Local Government Area to construct improved toilets.
Alhaji Aminu Dayyabu, the Executive Director of the agency, announced this to newsmen in Katsina on Tuesday.
According to him, the project is to assist households in rural communities to reduce cases of collapsed pit latrines after attaining Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
He said the agency had identified and trained some Toilet Business Owners (TBOs) on the new technology for households.
‘’Interested households can secure the loan from Micro Finance Institutions (MFI); the toilets will be constructed for them by the TBOs.
“Each of the selected household will be given a loan of up to N40,000 to construct improved toilet’’, he said.
He said that the loan was expected to be refunded in one year and in instalments.
He added that the pilot project would be implemented under the Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria (SHAWN), funded by the UNICEF and DFID.
Dayyabu explained that the decision was aimed at making people have more access to improved toilets particularly in the rural communities of the participating local government areas in the state.
“Bakori Local Government is at the verge of becoming Open Defecation Free (ODF).
“People there are more enlightened on sanitation project, that is why we want to test the newly introduced scheme before expanding it to Mai’adua and Sandamu.
“We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 48 MFI’s for the provision of the loans to the households in Bakori and other local government areas of the state’’, he said. (NAN)
ZI/DS/IEA
Edited by Idahosa Asowata