By our Taraba correspondent
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Taraba state Government under the leadership of Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with the sole aim of improving the management and delivery of Water and Sanitation, WASH, services.
The signing of the MoU as observed by our correspondent, took place via a teleconference between the State government and the leadership of the aforementioned international organization.
The MoU was said to have been designed to help the people of the state live healthier lives through reliable access to clean water.
Elated by the development Ishaku, said his administration is working hard to ensure that reliable water and sanitation services reach 90 percent of the state before the end of its second tenure, stating that “this will include remote and mountainous terrains.”
During the teleconference, the said MoU
was signed online to formalize a new partnership to improve the management and delivery of Water and Sanitation, WASH, services.
The MOU signed by the two partners underlines the commitments on their part to jointly develop a professionally managed, commercially oriented and accountable state water board.
This , the governor said “will be achieved by improving the water board’s financial viability and strengthening policy, institutional and regulatory frameworks for better WASH service delivery.”
The USAID as gathered by our correspondent, is presently promoting a 60.4 million Dollar “Effective Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (E-WASH) services in five states including Taraba.
The programme is aimed at increasing access to clean water and reduce water borne diseases by strengthening their water board’s capacity to making solid investment decisions, improve billing and collection systems and ensure greater responsiveness to customer concerns.
Describing the MoU as a remarkable milestone, Ishaku affirmed that “We believe we have the potential to provide not only the best water service delivery in the country but in all Africa.”
With this development, our correspondent learnt that in the next four years, USAID’s E-Wash will spur the mobilization of an additional 50 million Dollars from public and private sources and that It will also provide access to piped clean water to, at least, 500,000 households in the state
Speaking at the said teleconference, the USAID mission Director Mr Stephen M. Haykin,, said COVID-19 pandemic has added greater emphasis to the importance of water sanitation and hygiene.
According to him “The collaboration marked by this agreement will help Taraba chart a part towards a better performing water board and will raise the quality of services for the health of their customers.
Taraba is the first among the beneficiary states to key into the plan of action since the Federal Government’s declaration of clean water as a national emergency.
Apart from Taraba, other participating states in the USAID E-WASH programme are Delta, Abia, Imo and Niger.
END