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Kaduna State Water Corporation officials and their relatives have praised Governor Uba Sani for being magnanimous to clear the backlog of their N800 million salary arears.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, some staff members who do not want to be named, said that non-payment of salaries preceded the coming of his administration but the past government did not address the problem.
They said that the Governor could have chosen to sweep the matter under the carpet but he decided to address the issue once and for all, adding that ‘’he has shown that he has the milk of human kindness in him.’’
‘’Judging from his policies and programmes, Governor Uba Sani has demonstrated that he has the plight of workers and the common man at heart. His rural transformation programme and the revamping of the education sector, as well as healthcare show that he is a people’s Governor,’’ one Hajiya Hadiza said.
The Commissioner of Public Works and Infrastructure, Ibrahim Hamza, has said that the Governor had directed that the backlog of the salaries of KADSWAC staff will be cleared in four tranches. Hamza, who made this known at a news conference also disclosed that officials of KADSWAC will be put back on the state’s payroll, up till 2027 when the corporation must have fully stabilised to run as a commercial entity.
The commissioner said that the Governor had earlier declared a state of emergency in the water sector three months ago, which resulted in the appointment of Kabir Rufai, an engineer, as substantive Managing Director of KADSWAC.
Hamza said that the N93 billion will be invested in KADSWAC in four instalments, starting with N17 billion this year, adding that N35 billion will be invested next year, while N30 billion will be invested in 2026 and N11 billion will be invested in 2027.
According to him, Kaduna State is investing heavily on the rehabilitation and retrofitting of all water treatment plants and distribution mains, with emphasis on sanitation and hygiene. Arch Hamza pointed out that the N93 billion will be invested in four instalments, starting with N17 billion this year, adding that N35 billion will be invested next year, while N30 billion will be invested in 2026 and N11 billion will be invested in 2027.
The Commissioner of Works disclosed that ‘’previous administrations invested $500 million into the urban water supply scheme in the last 10 years with no result.’’ ‘’Rather, capacity utilisation dropped down from 43% in 2017 to 8% in 2023 with 5% coverage,’’ he added. According to Hamza, the refund of N17.2 billion was not duly utilised by the previous administration and institutional reforms culminated in redundancy and laying off of skilled staff.