Barely a month after payment of mobilisation fund by Gombe State Government and handing over of construction site to the contractor, work has commenced in earnest for the rehabilitation, upgrade and expansion of Gombe Regional Water Supply Scheme.
Briefing news men after conducting them round the project sites, the Field Manager of the firm handling the project, JIDADU VENTURES LIMITED, Engr. Nandom Amos said their company has mobilised to site all the necessary facilities and equipments and work has already begun.
“As you can see for yourselves, our men and equipments are already on site and we began excavation work/site clearing here along Western Bypass for the construction of Tumfure Booster Station. The essence of this work is to prepare the site for set up and other construction works ahead”, he noted.
Engr Nandom explained that the station under construction will house service building, administrative block, pump house, generator house, among others.
The Engineer also disclosed that the station has the capacity to supply 1 million cubic litres combined volume of water from its overhead and underground tanks.
He maintained that, “the capacity is enough to supply water for Tumfure and Shongo areas, the newly completed Gombe Mega Park and to feed another booster station near NTA”.
At Wuro Juli, the site manager said rehabilitation and upgrade of the facility, which was abandoned for a long time, has fully commenced.
He explained that the station taps from the underground water resources to complement the supply from Dadin Kowa Treatment Plant for a wider and adequate supply.
“The company started sinking six new industrial boreholes in the area and five other existing ones will be rehabilitated to provide adequate supply for the facility.
“All the structures in the station, including the valves, pipelines, reservoir, power house, pump house etc will be rehabilitated and upgraded to a maximum standard for adequate functioning”, he added.
The Wuro Juli station has the capacity to produce over 5 million cubic litres of water which, according to the site manager, is enough to serve the neighborhood and feed the new Tumfure Booster Station.
The rehabilitation work is also ongoing in the upper zone booster station near Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
“The aim of the work is to replace the spoiled and outdated facilities with new, safer and more efficient ones that meets international standards”, the Engr noted.
Mr. Amos confirmed that all booster stations will be operated with solar power which will be augmented by standby generators and will also be connected with national grid to avoid glitch in the power generation to the facilities.
The rehabilitation, upgrade and expansion of Gombe Regional Water Supply Scheme aim to address water supply problems in Gombe metropolis and environs.
