The government of Enugu State wants to strengthen the supply of drinking water to its populations. On 12 January 2021, it signed a contract with FordMarx Nigeria for the rehabilitation of the drinking water network of the 9th Mile Crash Programme, which came into service in 1982 in Enugu.
In Enugu, the engineering company specialising in the fields of water and renewable energies will rehabilitate 12 boreholes powered by solar energy. The company will also rehabilitate a station that pumps water from the Oji, Ajali and Iva rivers. The contract also covers the rehabilitation of a small drinking water plant. The modernisation of the 9th Mile Crash Programme’s drinking water network should guarantee the supply of 28,000 m3 of water per day to the populations of Enugu and the surrounding metropolises. “Enugu faces a permanent water shortage that is exacerbated by the topography of the state. This makes access to groundwater difficult. According to WaterAid Nigeria, more than half (2.37 million) of Enugu’s people do not have access to basic water services,” says End Water Poverty (EWP).
FordMarx Nigeria has received 600 million Nigerian naira (about US$1.6 million) from the Enugu state government to implement the 9th Mile Crash Programme’s water supply rehabilitation project. The company has six months to complete the works. “It will then be responsible for the maintenance of this water network for two years,” says the Ministry of Water Resources of Enugu State in Nigeria.
Inès Magoum