TUNDE BOLAJI – MINNA.
Residents of Rafin Gora in Kontagora Local Government Area of Niger State will soon breathe a sigh of relief as the on-going construction of canals around the community have reached completion stage.
The project is an intervention between the Niger State Government and the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project(NEWMAP); a World Bank assisted programme meant to curb ecological challenges in communities suffering annual gully erosion.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello who went on an inspection tour to the project sites, expressed satisfaction with the level of work done.
Governor Sani Bello disclosed that the community has been plagued with ecological problems leading to the destruction of many homes.
“Rafin Gora has been plagued by ecological problems, unfortunately, a lot of houses have been lost to ecological issues but with this intervention executed jointly between NEWMAP and the state government counterpart funds, the other houses you see can be protected”, he said.
The Governor observed the need to expand the scope of the work in the nearest future even though the immediate treat has been addressed for now.
The Governor then expressed optimism that the project will be completed in few weeks time and that it would avert major disaster in the community.
“I am happy that they will complete it before the heavy rains, we expect heavy downpours sometimes in June, we have a window of two to three weeks to complete the project. They had to stop tje work for few months due to banditry attacks, but they are now back to site fully, they work day and night and have made serious progress.
“There is need to expand the scope of the work, but at the moment, the immediate threat has been addressed”, he said.
The Resident Engineer of the project, Mr Sunday Jolaiya assured that the project will be completed before next month and will put an end to the ecological problem faced by the residents of the community.
The inhabitants of the community who are mostly farmers were excited at the pace of the project.
Some of them who spoke to journalists were hopeful that an end is being sighted for the community which has hitherto being suffering from gully erosion annually.
The project which had suffered setback for about six months due to insecurity is now witnessing the presence of engineers who are now fully back to site and are working tirelessly to complete the work before heavy rains expected in June.
