NAN-AE-4
Delay
By Tosin Kolade
Makurdi, July 13, 2017 (NAN) Delay in releasing counterpart funds by Cross River Government may halt the completion of the Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (RUSHPIN) programme in the country.
This was the thrust of discussions on the sidelines of the RUSHPIN Programme Coordinating Meeting held in Makurdi on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Cross River state is benefiting from the 5 million dollars Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) sponsored programme since 2012.
Mr Patrick Emori, General Manager, Cross River State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (CRUWATSSA), told NAN that the funds were already available in the account of the agency.
According to him, the agency cannot withdraw any money from the account without the approval of Gov. Ben Ayade.
“We have N104 million approved for sanitation scale-up in CRUWATSSA account since 2016, but as you are all aware, we cannot touch the money unless there was an approval from His Excellency, Gov. Ben Ayade.
“We have decided that we will begin to outline our expenditures so as to enable us get a clearer idea and approvals for all our needs,” he said.
Emori said that at the signing of the MoU in 2014, the state ought to scale up three more local councils by providing match-up funds and overall target to promote sanitation and hygiene practices among the communities.
He said there was need for the Programme Coordinating Mechanism of RUSHPIN Programme to keep up with its advocacy activities toward ensuring that there was speedy release of the funds.
While commending RUSHPIN intervention in the state, Emori said that Obalinku council in Cross River is the first council to be declared Open Defecation-Free.
He said that with more commitment on the part of the government, Bekwarra local government (also in Cross River) would soon be free from open defecation.
Emori said communities in the state were also benefiting from the Community-Led Total Sanitation through empowerment of people to take the fight against preventable diseases and deaths.
He urged the members of the Programme Coordinating Mechanism of the RUSHPIN to increase advocacy to the state to enable speedy release of the counterpart funds.
Also speaking, Mr Emmanuel Awe, RUSHPIN Programme Coordinating Mechanism Chairman, said that the Federal Government had at different fora reiterated its commitment to increase access to potable water for all Nigerians before 2030.
He cautioned state governments that GSF; the sponsors of RUSHPIN programme, had threatened to withdraw funding by September if the two states (Benue and Cross River) failed to pay.
He said that it was saddening to note that the two states had not been able to pay up their counterpart funds for the upgrade of the programme, in spite of pledges, commitment and countless advocacies.
The programme coordinating mechanism chairman expressed concern that lack of water and sanitation had impacted negatively on the economy, health and productivity.
Awe said that payment of the funds was an opportunity to scale-up sanitation and hygiene in the states to reduce the prevalence of diseases.
Awe said the Buhari Administration had step up the momentum for meeting this goal through the inauguration of the Partnership for Extended Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) Programme.
He blamed Nigeria’s inability to meet water and sanitation targets of the MDGs to failures of past government.
He explained that efforts were already in place to reverse this trend, and emphasised the need for commitment to pay up counterpart funds.
Observers recall that the Federal Government had signed an agreement with GSF, resulting in the provision of five million dollars by GSF for the project implementation in six local governments in Benue and Cross River.
In spite of this intervention, observers believe that without counterpart funds settlement, there might be delay in meeting the Open Defecation-Free Country target for Nigeria by 2025. (NAN)
TAK/MOL/AEA
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Archibong Asuquo