HYPREP Begins Investigation Into Collapsed Water Tank In Rivers
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project said it has launched an investigation into the collapse of a newly commissioned overhead water station tank in Gwara community in Khana local government area of Rivers State.
But three days after the inauguration, one of the facilities, specifically the Gwara water station meant to provide safe drinking water for about 14 communities, collapsed on Tuesday.
Though the cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained, HYPREP said a high-level investigative committee has been set up to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the incident
Vice Chairman of the committee and HYPREP legal adviser, Gowon Ichibor, stated this while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Ichibor said the committee had visited the site on Wednesday morning to assess the situation and communicated its preliminary findings to the HYPREP Project Coordinator, Prof. Nenibari Zabbey.
Ichibor stated, “As part of the team that visited the site this morning, what we discovered was broken walls with wreckage all over the ground, water pulling down the front walls. We had to inform the PC (Project Coordinator) of our discovery.”
He revealed that a team from the Rivers State Ministry of Environment and the Committee were jointly visiting the incident site at the time of filing this report, saying, “When the engineering team visits later in the day with investigation from our team, I am sure we must then have discovered the remote cause of the damages”.
Ichibor added, Whoever needs to be punished will be punished. We pray that at the end of it all, it won’t be human error. What we are more interested in is to see that we get water back to the Gwara people.”
On his part, the Chief Resident Engineer of HYPREP, Tabe James, said, “There is a collapse of the water tank, and investigation is still ongoing.
“There is debris all over the place, but if you go there, you will see that the foundation is still intact.
“So it is only when we carry out proper investigation, testing of materials and certification that we will know the real measure. For now, the investigation is still ongoing.”
Meanwhile, HYPREP head of Communications, Enu-Olare Wigbo, empathised with the Gwara community and called for calm as steps are being taken to ensure that the damaged facility is being restored, and water reticulated to affected communities
Wigbo stated, “HYPREP remains committed to continue to deliver quality projects that meet the best standards. It has introduced both internal and external measures to ensure quality assurance and control.
“This includes the engagement of a Project Consultant, EcoProject, supervision from the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit and Water Supervisors, among others.
“But for this isolated case, 16 Water Stations have been commissioned, supplying water to over 40 communities. Some of them have been running for over two years.
“More so, robust sustainability plans are being adopted to ensure the water projects continue to serve communities. They are the constitution of the Water Consumers Association, construction of solar farms for alternative power supply and training of laboratory staff.”
He added that one of the unique features of the HYPREP Water Project is the laboratory to ensure that water supplied to communities meets the World Health Organisation’s standard.