Usman Jubril
The Federal Government could seek additional funding from the World Bank to implement new projects under its Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) in 12 states.
NEWMAP is a $500 billion programme of the Federal Government and the World Bank to check gully erosion and other environmental degradation in the country in seven states.
About 67 per cent of the budget had been spent to tackle environmental challenges in the two years the programme has run, while work is currently going on in about 23 gully erosion sites in the affected states.
The Minister of Environment, Mallam Ibrahim Jubril, who hinted on the need for the extra funding during the second mid-term review of NEWMAP activities in Enugu, said the funds would be expended on projects in 12 new states that have identified with the scheme, as well as deepen projects in others.
He explained that the 12 states were not part of the scheme when the project began in 2015, adding that the Federal Government was at the final stages of discussion with the World Bank, through the Federal Ministry of Finance, for approval of the additional financing, which he hoped would be concluded before March 2018.
He said: ìNEWMAP was specifically designed to support the country in addressing the age-long and yet worsening problem of erosion and land degradation, especially to reduce vulnerability to ravaging gully erosion in the targeted watershed. It was also aimed at supporting the country towards achieving greater environmental and economic security.
From inception, the NEWMAP concept is to fund investments strategically in the areas of civil works, vegetative land management, watershed protection measures and community-led adaptive livelihood initiatives.
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