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Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev
The Federal Government has assured residents of Sokoto State and its environment of the safety and stability of both the Goronyo and Shagari dams.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Utsev, gave the assurance on Tuesday when he led members of his technical committee to the dam site in Keta, in the Goronyo Local Government Area of the state.”
The team had earlier visited the Shagari Dam on Monday.
President Bola Tinubu constituted an inter-ministerial technical committee on the evaluation of dams in Nigeria, following the flooding incident that affected part of Maiduguri, Borno State.
The Maiduguri flooding occurred after one of the spillways of the Alau Dam collapsed, causing devastating havoc in the town.
Other members of the committee were Ministers of Environment, Housing, Works, Budget and National Planning, Information and National Orientation, as well as Finance.
Represented by the Deputy Director of Dams and Reservoir in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mrs Oluwatosin Abiola, Utsev said the purpose of the visit was to evaluate and make recommendations to the government to ensure the dams served their purposes.
“We are here to evaluate the Goronyo Dam and from what we have seen after going round to see the facilities, we are very much convinced that this dam is safe and stable,” the minister said.
The Goronyo Dam, located in the Keta community area of the town, is about 942 million cubic meters, spanning over 12.5kms length.
“There is no cause for alarm about Goronyo Dam as everything here is working in accordance with the laid down provisions and procedures. The dam is safe and stable.
“The slow protection of the main dam is very okay, the gates are working well and the slow protection of the sandy dam is also working well and very much intact,” he said.
Speaking at the site of Shagari Dam on Monday, the minister observed that the dam was safe and its condition was not deteriorating, considering the water reserve, embankments and spillways.
Earlier, the Managing Director of Sokoto Rima Basin Development Authority, Mr. Buhari Bature, commended the President on the initiative.
Bature said Shagari Dam has 15 million cubic capacity, 13 metres in height, and 1,340 metres in length with 240 hectares of irrigation land at present.
He said 1,000 hectares had been proposed as dam irrigation land, noting that at present, a 70 per cent level of completion had been achieved.
