The Kiri agriculture dam is to be converted to a hydro-power project in a bid to tackle the challenge of power supply in AdamawaState, according to Anthony Reuben, assistant general manager at the State Water Board.
Kiri dam, built on River Gongola, is located in Kiri village, about 20kms from Numan town in Shelleng local government area of the state.
Reuben said that the Adamawa State government, in collaboration with the federal government and an American company, are working on the project.
He said the project which was originally created to provide water to a sugar company, would now assist in meeting the water needs of some communities in the state.
“The Kiri dam project was originally created mainly to give water to the Savanna Sugar Company, but it will be converted to a hydro-power facility that will supply about 70 per cent of its water to the state,” he said.
Reuben said the dam was currently utilised for only eight hours a day instead of between 12-15 hours due to high cost of maintenance, while expressing optimism that by the time the hydro-power facility is put in place, it will function maximally.
The assistant director also identified other constraints of the board besides power supply as human capital development and lack of spare parts.
The director said there was also need to reform and modernize the board’s data collection mechanism by creating sub-units and encouraging workers to imbibe the spirit of data collection.