The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, says Goronyo Dam is safe from associated flooding risk with the capacity to provide about 85,000 jobs to the farming families.
Utsev disclosed this when he led a team of the Inter-ministerial Technical Committee on Evaluation of Dams in Nigeria to Goronyo Dam in Sokoto state on Tuesday.
He the visit was part of efforts to curtail any unforseen circumstances on the existence of the Dam and assured residents of Goronyo and environs of the safety and condition of Dam.
Represented by Mrs Oluwatosin Abiola, the Deputy Director of Dams in the Ministry, the Minister said many dams in Nigeria are aging and require maintenance as well as upgrades.
He explained that a technical sub-committee chaired by Director of Dams and Reservoir Operations was constituted comprising other officials to conduct the exercise.
He said the visit to various dams across the country is to access their conditions and evaluate their safety status for potential flood control and economic use
He observed that Goronyo Dam is safe and its structures in proper condition noting that part of the exercise was also to assetain social impacts of the Dam and likely challenges.
The Minister noted that the Dam has 943 million cubic meters capacity, 5.2 Km primary embankment, 1.3 Km Secondary embankment, 15 Km emergency spillway and 200Km natural reservoir.
He further explained that the Dam has gateways and designed to dissilt itself as well as 500 Km underground reservoir and other spillways along with irrigation canals.
He added that the Dam has 5,000 hectares of irrigation land that provided jobs to about 80,000 people besides fishing activities and supplying water for treatment purposes.
According to him, 3,017 hectares were developed while others are underway Witt phases of irrigation schemes that have started since 1979.
Utsev added that the Dam has the capacity of hydroelectric generation and other economic purposes which would be considered by the committee’s findings.
The Team leader stressed the need for increased investment in dam to ensure maximum utilization of its capacity for food production and other economic purposes in the country.
According to him, the findings would be submitted to the main committee for onward action and citizens that it’s Dam would be put into full use and ensure measures to avert food.
He added that the committee was inaugurated to assess the physical condition of dams nationwide and examine their impact on local communities.
The visit was led by the Managing Director of Sokoto Rima Basin Development Authority (SRBDA), Mr Buhari Bature along with other managing staffs.
The Newsmen reports that the team’s evaluation is expected to provide valuable insights into the current state of Nigeria’s dam infrastructure as well as help in informing future policy decisions related to flood control and water resource management.
The members of the committee are: Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation; Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning.
Others are Dave Umahi, Minister of Works; Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser; Musa Dangiwa, Minister of Housing and Urban Development.
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