Cross River to lose $5m UN water, sanitation grant

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The Cross River State Government is about to lose a $5m grant from the United Nations Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council for its failure to remit its counterpart fund of N104m for the improvement and expansion of the Sanitation and Hygiene Programme.

Speaking with newsmen, the state Coordinator of the Society for Water and Sanitation Network, Mr. Tony Kedang, made the disclosure on Tuesday, in calabar.

The Rural Sanitation and Hygienic Promotion in Nigeria, had in partnership with other agencies collectively supported the choice of the Obanliku Local Government Area as the first open defecation-free LG in Nigeria in 2016.

The programme, which is an initiative of the UN, assists in reducing sanitation-related diseases and is currently being executed in Abi, Bekwarra and Obanliku LGAs of the state.

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Kedang noted that the state was on the verge of losing a total of $5m given to Nigeria to continue the next phase and expansion of the RUSHPIN programme, as the September 30, 2017 deadline, set by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, has passed.

The coordinator said, “If the state does not take urgent action this opportunity will be forfeited to other states that have indicated interest in the programme. Cross River has been on the verge of becoming a model for sanitation and hygiene and is on track to becoming the first state in Nigeria that is open defecation-free.

“We are formally appealing to the state government to release the sum of N104m that had been earmarked and subsequently approved by the governor as the first tranche of counterpart funding to Cross River for the scale-up of the LGAs of Obudu.”