By Abbas Bamalli
Katsina State Government has organised a three-day training for about 120 stakeholders across the state on behavioural change, hygiene promotion and sustainability.
Declaring the event opened on Wednesday in Katsina, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Alhaji Musa Funtua, said the training was to support the Clean NIgeria: Use the Toilet programme.
According to him, the training, which was under the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) programme, came at the right time.
He explained that the programme is a World Bank project, aimed at ensuring the cleanliness of rural communites, and also promote the hygiene of the areas.
The commissioner added that for such programme to sustain, it had to reach the grassroots, saying “that is the reason for the training of the trainees, so that they could also step it down to grassroots”.
According to him, the state government, under Gov. Aminu Masari, has spent a lot in the sector, especially through the provision of clean and potable water.
He added that out of the seven benefitting states for the SURWASH programme, Katsina State was declared the best in environmental sanitation and provision of potable drinking water.
Dr. Sama’ila Mua’azu-Bawa, SURWASH Programme Coordinator in the state, said the objectives of the training was also to promote sanitation in the communities and improve water supply in the rural and urban areas.
According to him, the training is to sensitise the major stakeholders, especially the local governments, to their engagement in hygiene promotion.
“At local governments, you know we have the Water and Sanitation Hygiene Services (WASH); that is why we invited those Directors from the 34 local government areas.
” Same goes for the Desk Officers from the Clean NIgeria: Use the Toilet Project and also the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who serve as stakeholders in the programme,” he said.
Earlier, the desk officer of the Clean NIgeria: Use The Toilet programme, Alhaji Isiyaku Idris, said the success recorded so far in the project in the state was due to the commitment of the steering committee, headed by the Commissioner for Water Resources in the state. (NAN)
