FG signs MoU to take over Farin Ruwa Dam project

The Federal Government on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nasarawa State Government to enable her takeover and complete the Farin Ruwa Dam project.
The project, conceptualised in 2001 with the intention of providing no fewer than 20 megawatts electricity to Nasarawa State, was stalled due to paucity of funds.
The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, while signing the MoU in Abuja, said the effort was part of Federal Government’s commitment to complete all ongoing and abandoned water projects in the country.
He noted that technical teams of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and their counterparts from Nasarawa State had looked critically at the project status, level of completion and the possibility of incorporating other components.
Adamu said these components include: irrigation, water supply and hydro power generation for the overall goal of improving the lives of the citizens and its environs.
Governor Tanko Al- Makura said the state government was appreciative of the Federal Government’s efforts at improving the lives the citizens.
He said the project, initiated by the state government, became uncompleted following paucity of funds, saying that past efforts had not yielded much impact, with 60 per cent completion as at 2007.
The governor said the state was grateful to the Federal Government and the ministry of water resources for taking over the burden and taking over the financial cost to ensure completion of the project.
He said: “We are thankful to the Federal Government for the proposed takeover and completion of this project.
“It is our concern that we give all the necessary cooperation for the completion of this laudable project.”
He pledged the commitment of the state government to keep to the agreement on profit sharing from accrued benefits when completed.
Al- Makura said that his administration was determined to complete all the ongoing and abandoned projects in the state, saying Farin Ruwa is one of such projects.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the dam, which has a capacity of 73 million cubic meters, will serve no fewer than 10 communities in Nasarawa state.