By Justin Tyopuusu
Amid acute potable water challenge in Zing and Yorro Local Government Areas, LGAs, of Taraba State, the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, UBRBDA, through a contractor, Messrs. Pro-XL Civil Engineering Limited has abandoned a N91.6m Earth Dam project in Zing, DAILY NIGERIAN investigation has revealed.
In 2021, the federal government budgeted a sum of N40 million for the project to address the water challenge in the area.
The water scarcity is due largely to the topography of the area and low rainfall, a situation which forces women and children to trek long distances in search of potable water. Also in 2022, N51,691,357 was budgeted for the same project amounting to N91,691,357.
Juliana John-Sylvester, a community health worker at the Zing General Hospital disclosed that poor access to clean and potable water in the area has made people to seek alternative sources of water supply. She said these sources are often unclean and polluted, thus exposing the residents to water borne and water-related diseases particularly fluorosis, a health condition that affects the teeth and bones. Other diseases include typhoid, diarrhea, gastroenteritis and worm infections amongst others. Fluorosis is also associated with the ingestion of high levels of fluoride in water.
John-Sylvester who also provide part-time services at the Primary Healthcare Centre, PHC, in Pantisawa, Yorro LGA, explained that access to water is so poor in some communities that residents have to compete with animals including, pigs for water.
“It’s a pathetic situation. If you go to some of our communities, you will see people struggling with pigs for water. Most of the boreholes are no longer working. For instance, in this community, we have only one solar borehole that is working and people buy 20 litre-jerrycan of water at N25, and in some places N30, amounting to N500 and N700 for 200 litres of water.
“Apart from the cost, water vendors can’t service the entire community. This makes it difficult for people to even buy water in some locations, not to talk of interior villages. There is also a hygiene problem as most water sources are contaminated because of poor hygiene. We want government to come to our aid by completing the dam project here in Zing,” she said.
In a bid to address the cries of the people, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources through the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, UBRBDA, awarded the construction of an Earth Dam at Sabon Pegi, Zing LGA in 2021 to Pro-xl Civil Engineers Limited.
According to tracka.ng, N10,759,961.03 and N7,173,307.80 was released to the agency on 24th April and 18th July, 2021 respectively. Engineer Faruk Umar of Pro-Xl Engineers said the monies paid to them was part payment. “We can only be paid full once the project is completed as contained in the contractual agreement.”
Work on the project commenced in December 2021, but the contractor later abandoned the site in February, after destroying the major source of water which was serving the people in the course of clearing the site, even as people’s farmlands were destroyed without compensation.
Checks on the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, shows that Pro-xl Engineers Limited was incorporated on Nov. 5, 2013 with address at No. 85 New Hospital Road extension, Tarauni, Kano. A visit to the address and a check using google map didn’t yield any fruitful result. The address could not be found. The closest address was Hospital Road which passes through Tarauni, connecting Audu Bako Way and Race Course Road. Tricycle riders, taxi drivers and residents of Tarauni could not help locate the address. One of the tricycle riders asked “Oga are you sure of where you are going? There is nothing like New Hospital Road Extension here. Let’s go to Yantsaki and check.” At Yantsaki, the story was the same as the address could not be found.
The company with registration number RC 1151708 is currently inactive on CAC’s website, implying it has not updated its annual returns with CAC. A click on the company’s supposed website returns; “the resource you are looking for might have been removed, or is temporarily unavailable.” Further checks on NG-Check.com revealed that the company which is limited by shares has no functional email address, but has only Johnson Abah Candy and Ibrahim Abdulkadir Kawu as directors.
When the company’s phone number was dialed, one Faruk Umar, an engineer, who claimed to be one of the directors of the company, expressed ignorance about the project, adding that the company was only contacted to design the earth dam, and didn’t participate in any construction work at the site.
“Are you sure of what you are saying? Our company Pro-xl Engineers was only awarded a contract to design an Earth Dam in Taraba, which we did. We are not aware of any construction work going on at the site.
“We will cause investigation into the matter and our team will go to the root of it. We have built our company reputation over the years and we will not allow anybody to rubbish our reputation. I want to thank you for contacting us to hear our own side of the story.”
Asked how much the company was paid for the purported design of the project, Mr Umar claimed ignorance of the total amount the company received for the design, but said the monies paid the company was part payment.
“We entered into a confidential agreement with UBRBDA and we cannot breach our confidential agreement. Since you have written them, I advise you do a follow-up and ask them how much we were paid for the design.”
When contacted for reaction on the position of the Pro-xl Engineers, the PRO of UBRBDA, Mr. Ahmad Isa-Mbamba requested a written enquiry which was sent and officially acknowledged by UBRBDA on September 30. In an official reply signed by Engr. Murtala Mohammed, the project coordinator and principal civil engineer, the agency said M/S Pro-XL Civil Engineers Ltd were awarded the contract for the design of the dam at the cost of N48,81,012.50 in October 2020 and submitted final design details in March 2021, while the sum of N40,000,000 was released out of the total contract sum.
The agency explained that the contract for the construction of the small earth dam was awarded to M/S Kuroko Projects Ltd of No 5 Mangal Plaza Zone 1, Wuse Abuja on 18th October, 2021. The contractor later “donated” the project to M/S Dan-Omar Nigeria Ltd of No 1 Alh. Musa Hassan House, Herwagana Quarters Gombe.
Speaking on the legality of the purported donation of the contract to Dan-Omar Nigeria Limited, by M/S. Kuroko Project Limited, a procurement expert based in Yola, Adamawa State, Aliyu Hamza, said under standard procurement procedures the word ‘donation’ does not exist, but transfer of rights or subcontracting.
According to Mr Hamza, under transfer of rights, a contractor is allowed to transfer his contractual rights and responsibilities to another party.
“Transferring contract rights can happen either through assignment or delegation. With a delegation, you are transferring the obligation of performance to another party. This means that another person is performing your contractual duties but you are still legally responsible for the contract.
“Under assignment, a contractor can assign his contractual rights to another party, and this can be done in writing or verbally. And once this is done, the other party can perform their contractual duties on behalf of the initial contractor.
“I don’t know which procedure was used by the contractors in question and the agency that awarded the contract,” he said.
Checks for the physical address of Dan-Omar Nigeria Ltd at No. 1 Alh. Musa Hassan House, Herwagana Quarters Gombe revealed that the address only existed on paper as none of the buildings in Herwagana carries the purported address and residents in the area including commercial motorcycle riders confirmed that the address does not exist in that area.
Further checks on the Corporate Affairs Commission’s website revealed that the company was incorporated on January 14, 2020, with registration number RC:1650141 and is currently inactive (meaning the company has not remitted its annual returns to CAC.
“We consider the project crucial” – Kpanti Zing Traditional Ruler
The Kpanti Zing, Suleiman Ibrahim Sambo, who spoke through the administrator of the chiefdom, Abdullahi Hamamjoda Sambo, expressed worry over the abandonment of the project adding that the Zing Traditional Council consider the project as crucial to the people.
“When the contractor mobilised to site, he came to the Palace and we provided an enabling environment for the project to take off. When farmland owners at the project site protested and demanded that compensation be paid to them, we intervened and pleaded with them to allow the contractor go on with work. They cooperated with us, and work commenced, but the contractor later stopped coming. We had high hopes for the project because water is a major challenge facing us here. We were hoping that when the project is completed, we will have access to clean drinking water and water for irrigation.
“It will surprise you that as bad as the water at the abandoned site is at the moment, people still go there to fetch water for domestic use and this has led to the increase in cases of water borne diseases. Go to Zing General hospital and see patients on admission with water related diseases. We want the federal government to ensure the contractor is back to site and the project is completed,” he said.
His counterpart in the neighboring Yorro LGA, the Chief of Mumuye, Ado Mazang, said the water challenge in the area was a major problem as community members are prone to attacks and violence when they trek long distances in search of water.
Mr Mazang said that, “from October to June every year people face acute water scarcity and as such drink any water available without minding the consequences, leading to increasing cases of water borne diseases.”
The secretary, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Zing LGA, who also doubles as the Student Union Government, SUG president, College of Education Zing, Ali John Faji, expressed disappointment over the state of the project, adding that “the people of Zing were full of joy at the commencement of the project but unfortunately, the contractor abandoned the site.”
“We have a senator representing us and a member of the House of Representatives, we want to call on them to do something and ensure that the contractor is back to site.”
Mr Faji, who said women, children and students suffer more in search of potable water lamented that students living outside the college campus would have benefitted from the project because the dam is located close the school, adding that dry season farming and ranching of the animals would receive a boost if the dam is completed.
On his part, the acting Secretary, Muslim Council Zing Branch, Mallam Abdullahi Useni, called on the federal government to do the needful and get the contractor back to site. Useni who queried why the contractor would destroy people’s farmlands without compensation and destroy their source of water only to abandon the project, called on the member representing the constituency in the National Assembly, Hon. Kasimu Maigari to lobby the federal government to get the contractor back to site.
Some of the women and children including Philomena Luka, 35-year-old mother of five, Aishatu Ibrahim 40, Sarah Mazang 28, Tanko Baba 12, Suleiman Mohammed, 9 as well as, Victoria Ishaya 11, all lamented the difficulties they faced in search of water especially during the dry season and called on the federal government to ensure timely completion of the project.
Experts blame rising cases of fluorosis, other water borne diseases to poor water sources
Experts including the Chief Medical Officer, General Hospital Zing, Dr. Filibus Duke; Head of Dental Services Department, Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, Dr. Chidi Ogbonna; and Mrs. John Sylvester, a community health worker, all blamed rising cases of water borne diseases and fluorosis in the area to poor access to clean water.
Dr. Duke who disclosed that he recently resumed at the hospital, said even though there was no accurate data regarding cases of fluorosis, common water borne diseases being treated in the hospital include; typhoid fever, diarrhea, among others which he said are contracted through the use of contaminated water.
Mr Sylvester lamented the poor access to quality potable water in the area, adding that many people especially in Tudun-Wada area of the community, have resorted to using the stream in the area. She stressed that the stream which is close to the health facility in the area, is usually contaminated by patients’ relatives in the hospital who indiscriminately dispose and wash all kinds of dirt in the stream, while people bath and fetch the water few metres away for domestic use. This is even as she attributed many cases of fluorosis in Zing and Yorro to lack of proper water treatment before drinking.
Explaining fluorosis and its effect on humans, Mr Ogbonna said fluorosis is a metabolic disturbance that affect the bones of the body, noting that the effect is seen more on the teeth because the bones are covered by soft tissues eventually changing the colour and normal appearance of the teeth.
“Fluorosis usually affects children born in a place where the fluoride content in the water is above one part per million (ppm). Normally, if the fluoride content is between 0.5 to 0.7ppm, you will not notice it. However, if it’s above 0.8 to 1ppm, it becomes excess and starts affecting the colour of the teeth and bones. This is because it competes with other substances like calcium in the formation of the teeth.
“Fluoride itself is a substance that prevents tooth decay and the Nigerian Dental Society recommends it in toothpaste, but only in small quantity. The disease causes cosmetic blemish. It does not come with pains, apart from the discolour which affect the victims psychologically.
“Fluorosis is a public health issue and we advocate for the establishment of water treatment plants which will reduce the excess fluoride in water. Water treatment might be capital intensive but it is needed,” he said.
Residents indifferent about fluorosis, senator, honourable member react
Safiyanu Mohammed, Asmau Mohammed, Usman Mohammed, Yushau Kwalle Mohammed and Philomena Luka who were tested at Zing General Hospital and Federal Medical Centre Jalingo, all said they have no issues bearing coloured teeth as a result of fluorosis. All of them except Asmau Mohammed said she was shy opening her teeth in the public.
Asmau Mohammed said she feels reluctant opening her teeth in the public. “I am always shy anytime I am in the midst of people. Even though I wouldn’t mind getting my teeth whitened, but I will not like a teeth replacement,” she said.
Some residents believe the condition is hereditary while some see it as fashion statement they are proud to show off.
Mr Ogbonna, however, blamed their response on ignorance and low-level education, saying fluorosis is not hereditary, but a public health issue that can be addressed.
“The victims’ responses are based on their poor education and ignorance. They don’t really feel the impact because fluorosis is not painful. The psychological effect of fluorosis which many consider as tooth decay can be disturbing especially when one is in a public space,” he said.
When asked to comment on state of the project, the senator representing the Taraba North senatorial zone, Shuaibu Isah Lau, said as a legislator, he can only lobby and get a project for the people, but can’t force the federal government to release money.
“All over the country, federal government projects are abandoned because no contractor will sink his money in a project that he is not sure his money will be paid. That is what is happening to Jalingo -Numan Road and other projects of the federal government. The problem we are having in Nigeria is lack of budget implementation. The federal government will make a budget but will not implement it more than 60 per cent,” he said.
On his part, a member representing Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Kasimu Maigari, said he wrote UBRBDA on the state of the project, but was yet to receive communication from them.
“I wrote them several letters to get progress report on the earth dam project, the electricity power sub-station and empowerment and boreholes repairs projects in some parts of the constituency which monies have been released 100 percent, but they have not replied any of the letters. My next move now will be to write anti-corruption agencies to investigate them,” he said
When contacted on phone, the UBRBDA spokesman, Ahmad Isa Mbamba who replied via WhatsApp admitted that some funds have been released for the project, but blamed the delay in completing the project to inclement weather. He added that work on the earth dam project would soon be completed and that the contractor will resume at the site after the rains.
“For the Earth Dam project, spillway construction has been completed 100 percent. Earth work on the embankment 85 percent, upstream and downstream slope protection is at 66 percent completion. Generally, the project is at 65 percent completion as at the time the contractor left the site due to inclement weather and will resume after the rains,” Mr Mbamba said in a WhatsApp message to this reporter.
This report is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
and International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
