The Port-Harcourt Water Supply and Sanitation Project is a third Urban Water Reform Program.
This project is wholly owned and executed by the Rivers State Government with a $200m credit from the African Development Bank (AFDB).
The Port Harcourt Water Corporation is the implementing agency on behalf of the Rivers State Government.
This project has passed through the conception stage, design and design review stages, and procurement of the main water works, and a contract has been signed since 2020. Construction commenced in late 2020 and is ongoing.
The most challenging part of the project has been the non-payment of the counterpart fund by the Rivers State Government until Governor Siminalayi Fubara intervened by first giving the approval of the replacement action plan in February 2024, which was released on the 17th of May, 2024.
The release of this fund is geared towards cushioning the effect of the project on the affected residents.
It is worthy to note that the commencement of payment of the counterpart fund has elicited excitement from the African Development Bank and our other partners, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources. To that end, all outstanding approvals for the effective completion of this all-important project have been made by the bank.
The Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Water Corporation, who is also the Project Director, Chief Ibibia Walter, while expressing his gratitude to the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara GSSRS, gave this information at the Corporation’s headquarters in Rumuola, Port Harcourt.
