Ministry to partner BPE to commercialise river basins

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources says it is partnering with the Bureau of Public Enterprises to commercialise the 12 River Basins Development Authorities (RBDAs) to boost farming activities in the country.

Francis Obiwe, the Deputy Director, River Basins Operations Inspectorate, made this disclosure in Abuja on Monday.

According to him, the commercialisation is aimed at boosting agriculture as a policy thrust of the Federal Government.

He said that about 5,000 hectares of land will be set aside for farming activities and aquaculture to boost revenue and create job opportunities.

“The Minister directed all the RBDAs to set aside 5, 000 hectares for commercial farming, because the in thing is commercialisation.

“Commercialisation initiative will not allow them to rely on the lean budget of the government to carry out their business.

“The ministry is partnering with the Bureau of Public Enterprises to work out the modalities that will make the RBDAs become financially autonomous in their areas of operation, taking cognisance of their different conditions.

“Each river basin differs based on agro-ecological or hydrological conditions, hydrological conditions means rainfalls, the rivers or the water bodies,” he said.

Obiwe said President Muhammadu Buhari tasked all Ministries, Departments and Agencies when he came into power to come out with the blueprint and action plan for development.

“When there are functional RBDAs, they would bring development to the grass roots and discourage migration from the rural areas to the urban centres,” he said.

He also added that when this policy becomes operational, there would be a reduction in dependency on the ministries’ meagre budget.

“The ministry is working on the modalities presently to see how this would take effect as soon as possible,” he added.

The deputy director also said the ministry was set to concession Goronyo, Oyan and Gurara dams for the promotion of food security and socio-economic development in the country.