Fayemi Revives Moribund Egbe Dam after Decades of Collapse

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has inaugurated the newly-rehabilitated Egbe Dam to boost access to pipe-borne water to communities in two local government areas in the state.

Performing the inauguration of the dam yesterday in Egbe Ekiti as part of activities to mark the fourth anniversary of his administration, he said communities in Ayekire Local Government Area and Gbonyin Local Council Development Area are immediate beneficiaries of the project.

Represented by the Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, the governor explained that his administration rehabilitated three major water supply schemes in the state, Ero Dam, Ureje Dam and Egbe Dam, with a combined daily drinking water supply capacity of 180,500 cubic meters.

Fayemi said the turnaround of the public water sector was achieved by his administration in collaboration with the European Union to the tune of N1.9 billion, disclosing that the EU provided N1.4 billion while his administration made available N543 million counterpart fund.

Describing the Egbe Dam as “the flagship investment project to the reform programme supported by the EU,” the governor said the inauguration marked the completion of Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme Phase III (WSSRPP III) that started in the state in 2012.

The public sector water reform programme with Ayekire/Gbonyin and Ekiti West as the focal council areas was started by Fayemi during his first administration.

While thanking the development partner, the EU, for the success of the project, Fayemi recalled that the project started in 2012 as a result of the readiness and willingness of his first administration to reform the water sector with the support of the European agency and the resolve to implement the Water and Sanitation Policy of 2012.

The governor disclosed that as part of the ongoing reform of the sector, Ekiti State Water and Sewerage Company Limited was established as a corporate affairs entity to replace the erstwhile Ekiti State Water Corporation with the company expected to operate the three schemes optimally and sustainably with accountability as its hallmark to increase access to piped water.

He urged the people of the state to assist the state government and the newly-established water company by paying their water bills promptly to serve them better.

In his address, the Owa Egbe of Egbe Ekiti, Oba Ayodele Ige, said the people of the town are full of appreciation to Fayemi for bringing back to life the dam which had collapsed and remained moribund for decades.

Oba Ige noted that apart from provision of potable water, the dam could still be of immense economic benefits to the government and people of the state in the areas of irrigation, hydroelectric power generation and tourism.