The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the sum of N8.1 billion for the completion of the construction of Farin-Ruwa multipurpose dam in Nasarawa State.

Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, made the disclosure at the end of this week’s virtual cabinet meeting presided over by President Muhamamdu Buhari.

He said the project was started by the Nasarawa State government in 2013 but the state government in 2018, requested the federal government to take over for completion.

According to him, “President Buhari approved the project, a multipurpose dam project with provision for water supply, irrigation and 20 megawatts hydropower station.

“All we intend to do at the federal level is to complete the dam and then hope that we can get a concessioner to take over the component of the hydropower, which includes the construction of the power house, the turbines and the transmission lines.

“The contract sum is N8.14 billion inclusive of all taxes with the completion period of 24 months. It comprises of the completion of the dam embankment, spring lay and outlet works for the water supply and hydropower component, 20 kilometres of access road and rehabilitation of some service quarters.”

Explaining the scope of the project, Adamu said that it is a multipurpose dam project that also has potential for irrigation, water supply and 20megawatts hydro power station.

“What we intend to do at the federal government level is to finish the dam and then eventually we hope that we can get a concessioner to take over the components of the hydro power, which include the construction of the power house, installing the turbines and the transmission lines,” he stated.

According to Adamu, the contract, which has a 24-month timeline, comprises the completion of the dam embankment, spillway and outlet works.

He added that it would include the water supply and the hydro power components, 20km of access road and the rehabilitation of some service quarters that had already been under construction before the project was abandoned.

“What we are doing for now is the dam project, but there is going to be the irrigation component and the water supply component.

“Right now we are going to appoint consultants to design the irrigation and the water supply component.”

He said government would ensure that the dam is completed first before embarking on the other components.

The minister said that the scope of water in the Wamba area would determine the size of the water supply component.

“I don’t think it would be much because it is going to supply Wamba town and a few other communities, which are small communities.

“So, we are not expecting a big water treatment facility of big water works.

He said the irrigation component of the project would also depend on the land available and the design that would emerge, explaining that the Ministry of Water Resources, under its new policy, would not undertake any project below 500 hectares.(VON)