Minna – As part of its efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the state, the South Korean Government through the United Nations Habitat Programme (UN-Habitat) has given a $25,000 grant (about N10 million) to support the Niger State government.
This is contained in a statement issued by Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Chairman, Niger State Task Force on COVID-19 Pandemic, Ahmed Matane, on Saturday.
He said the support by the South Korean government was for the execution of two demonstration projects to help curb further spread of COVID-19 in the state.
Mr Matane said the first project to be carried out with the support was the construction of a smart-metered solar borehole aimed at providing clean and steady water supply to the COVID-19 Isolation Centre at the General Hospital, Minna.
”The second project is the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), face shields and hand sanitiser to frontline health workers dealing with the pandemic across the state,” he said.
The SSG disclosed that as soon as the projects were completed, the South Korean Ambassador to Nigeria would be invited to commission and hand over the projects to the state government.
Mr Matane expressed Governor Abubakar Bello’s appreciation on behalf of the people and government of the state to UN-Habitat and South Korea, while commending the Niger State Urban Support Programme (NSUSP) for securing the grant for the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the South Korean Government had earlier approved $900,000 grant to the Niger government for the preparation of the state urban policy.
