Oyo State House of Assembly on Thursday approved the request by Governor Seyi Makinde to access N800million loan for the state Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA)
The N800 million counterpart fund is targeted at attracting the sum of N2.967billion from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, for the expansion of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene in 20 local government areas of the state.
The 20 local government areas to benefit from the project are Ibadan South East, Ibadan South West, Ogbomoso, Atisbo, Afijio, Akinyele, Atiba, Iwajowa, Iseyin, Irepo, Ibarapa North, Ibarapa East, Ibadan North East, Kajola, Oyo East, Orelope, Ona Ara, Oluyole, Saki West and Saki East.
At the plenary on Thursday, presided over by the Speaker, Adebo Ogundoyin, gave the approval following the request letter sent to the state lawmakers by the governor saying that the project is aimed at improving water supply, sanitation and hygiene situation in the urban, small towns, and rural areas in the state.”
The Speaker, while reading the request, stressed the importance of good portable water supply to the people lamenting that most communities in the state lack hygienic water supply.
Ogundoyin said if the project is well implemented, residents of the state would be save from waterborne disease.
Ogundoyin however explained that the loan facility will run for the tenure of 2 years with the interest rate of 15 oercent which won’t be applicable until the draw down of the loan.
He stressed that the repayment of the loan will be from the State’s Internal Generated Revenue (IGR), with the monthly payment of about Thirty-three million (33.3m) for the period of 24 months.
While some legislators stressed the importance of the expanded water project, others stated the need for the fund to be tracked for accountability.
Sanjo Adedoyin (Ogbomoso South), Kehinde Olatunde (Akinyele 11), Gabriel Babatunde (Ibadan North 11), and Ssminu (Atisbo/Saki East) in their contributions agreed that the expanded water supply, sanitation and hygiene Initiative will meet the yearnings of the people in terms of adequate water supply and will help in further making lives bearable for the people as water is life.
However, other lawmakers including Asimiyu Alarape (Atiba), Seyi Adisa (Afijio), Isiaka Tunde(Oyo East/West) and Olawumi Oladeji (Ogbomoso North) stressed the need for the fund to be monitored so as to be used for what it is meant for.
They also urged the House Committee on Water Resources to ensure that the Oyo State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, for which the grant is sought, execute the project as specified in order to address scarcity of water in the selected LGAs in the state.
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