Dr Elijah Aderibigbe, the Director , Irrigation and Drainage , Federal Ministry of Water Resources , has assured that the Federal Government will complete all abandoned water projects in the country .
Aderibigbe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN ) in Abuja on Friday that the step was necessary to see that previous investments in the sector would not be a waste .
According to him , huge sums of money have been invested in some projects , as their completion will be beneficial to all Nigerians .
He , however , noted that some projects had been phased out, as completing them would amount to economic waste , saying the present hectares in the country stood at 70,000 .
‘‘The present administration is continuing from where the previous administration stopped , this means that we are not embarking on any new project for now.
‘‘We are actually looking at those projects that are near completion, we are looking at those ones that were abandoned and had reached advanced stages.
‘‘We are revisiting them , the Federal Government is providing money.
‘‘We have called the contractors back to site , so that the benefits will be enjoyed by all Nigerians , especially where the projects are sited.’’
The director said schemes such as the Mamu – Akwa in Anambra and Sabke Irrigation project in Katsina State had been completed and handed over to the primary users through the river basins .
He said efforts were ongoing to convert the schemes in two sources of energy and to also see that issues of sustainability when it comes to operation and maintenance were settled .
