Oando PLC and its joint venture (JV) partners – Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), have provided good drinking water to the over 5,000 residents of Agbere community in Bayelsa State, following the inauguration of a 20,000 -gallon water project in the community.
According to a statement by Oando Plc, “the initiative is grounded in the fact that water is a fundamental human need. Each person requires at least 20 to 50 litres of clean, safe water, daily, for drinking, cooking, and simply keeping themselves clean. Sadly, today in Nigeria there is an alarming dearth of access toclean water, and at Oando, we want to bridge this gap especially in our host communities.”
According to the statement, the laudable water scheme will drastically reduce deadly water-borne diseases in the community such as typhoid fever, cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, and hepatitis ‘A’.
“The scheme will also reduce the amount of time spent looking for water especially in rural areas, as noted by UNICEF – 19 million Nigerians walk long distances to collect unsafe water from lakes, streams and rivers,” the statement added.
The commitment of Oando and its partners was in line with the request of UNICEF Communications Specialist, Eva Hinds, who said:“Improving water and sanitation services as well as basic hygiene practices in Nigeria, calls for strong commitment from all partners-the government, civil society, the private sector and communities.”
He said: “For Nigeria to achieve the global goal of providing access to safe water for every citizen by 2030, it needs to make water, together with sanitation and hygiene, a national priority. This goal is closely linked with three key results for the country-good health, environmental sustainability and economic prosperity.”
In order to ensure the water scheme is maintained thereby ensuring it has a long life span and is able to support future generations in the community, the water plant came fully kitted with a 30KVA diesel power generating set with an external diesel storage tank and power connections as well as a shelter for the generator and treatment plant, a cased borehole of about 200m depth and a 10HP submersible pump, 3,000m reticulation / distribution water pipes with 30 fetching taps.
Speaking during the inauguration of the project, the paramount ruler of the community, Chief John Maseri thanked the JV Partners for completing and inaugurating the project. He noted that water was the most essential necessity of life and therefore, with […]
