Basin Authority To Irrigate 4,000 Hectares – MD

The Lower Niger Basin Development Authority says 4,000 hectares would be irrigated at the Kampe irrigation project in 2013 to boost food security.

The Managing Director, of the authority Mr Abubakar Aduragba disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.  Aduragba said that paucity of funds had hindered the completion of the project in 2012 as scheduled.  ‘’Four billion naira was budgeted for our projects in 2012 but N2 billion was released; we are still owing our contractors a huge sum of money for our own projects.  ‘’Most of the projects we implemented last year were constituency projects, which are mainly boreholes and small irrigation projects. ‘’We hope to cultivate the remaining 2,100 hectares as of the Kampe irrigation project located in Kogi; we were able to cultivate 2,000 hectares last year.  ‘’The dam is completed but the canals for the irrigation are still under construction; we have done 21 kilometres, we are supposed to be doing 39 kilometres for the project.’’

Aduragba said the authority was able to drill 90 hand pump boreholes and 32 motorised boreholes last year, while the 248 ongoing borehole projects would soon be completed.  He further said that the authority would focus on the completion of its ongoing projects this year rather than embarking on new projects. Most of the projects, he said, were near completion. The managing director told our correspondent that one of the ongoing projects, ( Shonga irrigation project ) located in Kwara, would also be completed as soon as funds were made available to the authority.