Desmond Mgboh, Kano
As part of efforts to address the menace of erosion, Kano State Government, has paid the sum of N500m as its counterpart fund to the Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project ( NEWMAP)
The state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje disclosed this at the official commissioning and hand- over of Gandu -Tukun Tawa – Zoo Road Erosion and Flood Control Project executed by the Federal Government.
Ganduje, represented by his deputy, Dr. Nasiru Gawuna maintained that the move was part of the collective engagement between the Federal Government and World Bank to check issues connected with environmental degradation.
He added that in complementing the efforts of the Federal Government to address erosion and floods, his administration had also constructed 65 drainages across the 44 local government areas of the state.
The governor added that he had ensured the sustenance of annual clearance of major and minor drainages in the state to avert flood.
For effective implementation of public health laws in the state, Ganduje also said that his administration had employed over 1000 sanitation vanguards, as well as the 100 Forest Guards currently being employed by the state to manage forest formation”
He commended the Buhari’s administration for its commitment towards the establishment of secondary effluent treatment at Challawa, Sharada and Bompai Industrial Estates.
The governor urged the people of the affected communities to cherish what he described as laudable project and safeguard it against indiscriminate dumping of refuse and other unwholesome act
Earlier, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Professor Stephen Oceni said the 2.5 kilometere road project was one of the ecological intervention projects approved by President Muhammadu Buhari to check the erosion menace and flooding as well as to improve the environmental condition of the areas after years of untold hardship and neglect.