The Oyo State government has called for World Bank’s investment in its bid to achieve universal access to safe drinking water and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Executive Chairman, Oyo State Water Corporation, Hon. Elias Adeojo, made call recently during a meeting with some officials of the Bank at the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project IUFMP, Ikolaba, Ibadan.
Adeojo sai that the Oyo State government is investing strategically in building safe drinking water systems by not only increasing funding, but also putting in capacities to plan, coordinate, and regulate service provision.
Revealing further that provision of potable water is capital intensive, but not profit oriented as the Corporation cannot charge the consumers for production cost, Hon. Adeojo said, “The Oyo State government has invested heavily on water facilities across the state, but still requires external support like grants from the World Bank.”
He also stressed that power, being a major factor that drives the corporation’s facilities, has been at lower ebbs and needs to be alternated with hydropower.
The chairman said that a new technology, known as hydrogen power, which can also be sold for the sustainability of the corporation, will be introduced.
Adeojo said the new policy will aid the corporation, especially as the delisting of power generation from the exclusive list of the Federal Government is in the pipeline.
Responding separately, the Task Team Leader for UFMP, World Bank office, Malawi, Mr. Francis Nkoka, and another official from the Washington DC World Bank office, Mr. Tochi Sinoda, promised to assess the requests of the state Government on potable water but added that the issue of tackling flood in the state is germane to the residents of the state.
The duo then impressed on the management of the corporation the need to form a synergy between the state Ministry of Environment and the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, to make a success the fight against the scourge of flood in the state.
Present at the meeting were top officials of the corporation, officials from IUFMP and the World Bank.
