Group tasks Benue, C/River Govts on payment of sanitation counterpart funds
NAN-AE-13
Funds
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, Aug. 21, 2017 (NAN) The Society for Water and Sanitation in Nigeria (NEWSAN) has called on Benue and Cross River Governments to quickly address the non-release of counterpart funds for the programmes in the water and sanitation sector.
NEWSAN’s Group’s National Coordinator, Mr Benson Attah, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.
He opined that the release of the fund would ensure continuity and support of the development partners, and enhance the well being of the citizenry.
He also called on the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to quickly intervene to ensure that the counterpart fund is released by the two state governments.
The Group’s National Coordinator also urged other states that were yet to release counterpart fund to support the implementation of projects by development partners to do so without any delay.
Attah stressed that the issue of counterpart funding would aid the improvement of health status, economies and livelihood of the citizenry.
He said the national body of NEWSAN, which rose from a one-day workshop on “Advocacy and NGO Engagement,’ reviewed the implementation of WASH programmes and activities by different stakeholders.
He said the group identified the need to urgently intervene in the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) supported project, which is being threatened for withdrawal based on the non-provision of counterpart funding from Benue and Cross River.
He said the project, supported by the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF), would have attracted additional five million dollars intervention to cover the remaining local governments in each of the states, if the state governments had released their counterpart funds.
He said it was worthy of note that the delivery of this project led to Obanliku council in Cross River, which for the first time in the history of Nigeria achieved local government-wide Open Defecation-Free (ODF) status was a boost in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector.
“The project has been of immense benefit to the six LGAs (three in each of the states of Benue and Cross River) as it has helped to enhance the life, health and well being of the citizens in the six LGAs and Nigeria in general.
“The non-release of the counterpart fund by the two state governments show lack of political will to implement programmes that are people-centred and development-driven.”
He said it was important for Benue and Cross River to release their counterpart funds toward scaling up sanitation and hygiene in the country, adding that there was a deadline of September 2017 to stop funding. (NAN)
TAK/MOL/AFA
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Felix Ajide =========================