The French Development Agency (AFD) has given the Plateau Government a 50 million dollar grant to increase the state's water supply.
This was announced by Mrs Stella Buge, the managing director of the Plateau State Water Board, on Friday when she welcomed a French delegation to the state to visit water treatment facilities in Jos.
According to Buge, the firm will use the fund to build more kilometres of water pipes in the state's hitherto untapped areas, addressing the state's ongoing problems with water scarcity.
“Today the AFD is here for a supervision mission of this project for the rehabilitation of infrastructure and extension of the distribution network.
“This project is to ensure the improvement of water quality and supply to the people of Plateau.
“The team of engineers have gone round and inspected the two water plants to be rehabilitated- the Yakubu Gowon Dam and the Lamingo Dam,” she said.
The Yakubu Gowon Dam phases one and two, which had been built in 1981 and 2001, respectively, and had a production capacity of 90 million gallons per day, will be renovated and upgraded, according to Buge, to increase the city's water supply.
She continued by saying that upgrades would also be made to the Lamingo Water Treatment Plant, which had a four million gallon per day capacity when it was first opened in 1972.
The managing director praised the state government for its involvement in the water industry, especially the AFD-supported plateau state urban water supply project.
Following the examination, the French engineers announced that chemical pumps and motors as well as low and high-lift pumps and motors will be replaced at the dams.
She said that the filter valves, phase two lamella package, and 2MVA phase two transformer would equally be replaced with the evacuation of sedimentation tanks.
(NAN)