Lagos Water Corporation needs N689.5bn to execute water master plan

The Lagos Water Corporation would require N689.5 billion ($3.5 billion) to execute the state water master plan, Shayo Holloway, the Managing Director of the corporation, said on Thursday.

According to him, the master plan would take the state from its current 210 million gallons per day to 745 million gallons by 2020.

“This is an investment which the state cannot solely undertake as it will require two and half years to fund with every naira inflow going into the water sector only.

“That is why the state seeks to partner with the private sector to accelerate the development of water infrastructure with private capital to make water available.

“Such investments are recoverable over a negotiated concession period of 20 to 30 years, depending on the size of investment and financial model,’’ he said.

According to him, the long concession period will make water tariff affordable to the public.

Holloway said that the corporation was putting measures in place to address the concerns of water affordability by some vulnerable segment of the society.

He said that the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Office of Public Private Partnership (PPP), Lagos State Water Regulatory Agency and Lagos State Ministry of Justice were involved in the process.

The managing director said that the involvement of the agencies was to ensure transparency, ensure value for money, protect investors and the public, as well as ensure equity and fairness.

He said, however, that the state government had started the implementation of the master plan with the ongoing construction of Adiyan Phases two.

Holloway said that when completed in 2016, the project would add 70 million galons of water daily to the state.

According to him, the state government has also completed the Otta-Ikosi water works to serve 11 towns in Ikorodu and Epe areas.

The managing director explained that the state water master plan provided for the construction of large schemes that would utilise water from rivers and lagoons.

He said that the plan aimed to address current water deficit of 330 millon galons per day, by raising output to 733 million galons of water daily.

Holloway said that the concession arrangement adopted by the corporation would not result in outright privatisation, adding that there was no plan to sell the state’s water assets.

(NAN)