Potable Water: UNICEF Sinks 800 Boreholes For N2bn

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that it sank over 800 boreholes in two LGAs of Cross River in the tune of N2billion with a view to making sure portable drinking water was available in those communities.
The program which was aimed at ensuring potable water supply in Yakurr and Boki Local Government Area of Cross River commenced in 2013.
The Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Enugu, Mr Ibrahim Kante, who also covers Cross River, who made this known at the conclusion of the phase 2 of the Water Supply Sanitation Sector Reform Programme (WSSSRP) in Cross River at the weekend in Calabar, said that funding for the program has ended but they hoped to ensure the sustainability of the gains recorded.
His words: “While the programme was on in both LGAs, we were able to drill over 800 boreholes in different communities to the tune of N2billion which helped in ensuring that both LGAs were declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).
“We were able to achieve that much but it did not come without some challenges which ranged from the technical incapacity of the Cross River State Government to the delay in implementation due to the delay in the release of counterpart funds.
“We also had challenges with the weather conditions and topography of some of the rural communities that we needed to drill.
“You have to try a couple of locations to get drilling done to get high yield and sometimes, the contractors are difficult to deal with, so they delay the process and the quality of work done poorly some times
“But I can tell you that the two LGAs we chose are the most deprived when it comes to access to water”, he said.