Water Consumers in Benue Owe Govt N1.5bn

George Okoh

Water consumers in Benue State are reportedly indebted to the state Water Board the sum of N1.5 billion for more than 10 years.

This is even as the state government is also indebted to Power Holding Company (PHCN) to the tune of N40 million for several years.

This revealed by the General Manager of the board, Gideon Shenge, as well as the state Commissioner for Rural Development and Cooperative, Mr. Victor Ukaha, who is overseeing the Ministry for Water Resources and Environment, during a chat with journalists in his office yesterday.

Shenge lamented that most of the debtors are high placed individuals in the state, adding that state government officials are in the habit of defaulting payment of 2,000 per month.

He narrated an instance where his workers had gone to disconnect the house of an aide to the state Governor, Samuel Ortom, and he threatened to report the general manager to the governor, even as he yelled: ‘How dare you disconnect my line? Do you not know that I am a government official?’

Shenge also explained that lack of power supply (as Power provider has disconnected them for over two months), non-supply of diesel due to shortage of funds, lack of chemicals for purification, among several other reasons have hampered their operation.

He, however, disclosed that the board generated over N1million to N500,000 monthly on the sale of water to private and corporate organisations within the state.

According to him, “100 percent of the amount is remitted to the Benue Internal Revenue Services (BIRS), and they in turn give us 75 percent for running the board which is sometimes just N200,000. We spend as much as N650,000 for repair and reticulation of water to four major areas of Makurdi town, including Lobi-Kwararafa, two areas in North bank and Katsina-Ala street.

“The old and new water works have a capacity for 100,000 cubic of water but we are dispensing 50,000 cubic daily.”