Environment
Some stakeholders in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) have called on all tiers of government to implement policies that will ensure availability of potable water through public water supply.
The stakeholders made the call at the ongoing bilateral meeting on WASH-Sector-Wide Approach (SWAP) Engagement Process on Friday in Osogbo.
They said provision of potable water for the masses was the sole responsibility of all tiers of government.
Mr Roy Ndoma-Egba, UNICEF National Consultant on WASH-Swap, said there was urgent need for a reform in the water sector.
Ndoma-Egba said the meeting was aimed at adopting and implementing SWAP to encourage programmes that align with emerging WASH issues.
He said the time people, especially in the rural areas spent in searching for potable water was huge, adding that government needed to increase budgetary allocation to water sector.
According to him, provision of potable water might not be totally free but people will only be encouraged to pay if the services provided are regular.
Prof. Yinusa Olakekan, the Supervisory Director, Osun Ministry of Water Resources, said it was the responsibility of every stakeholder to ensure that the water sector worked.
Olalekan said if the water sector was working as expected, there would not be need for people to dig boreholes in their houses.
He said Osun government was trying as much as possible to provide adequate potable water in the state.
“If the water sector is working, we don’t need to dig borehole.
“If all policy actors played their roles, the water sector will work properly,” Olalekan said.
Mr Gbenga Owojuyigbe, the General Manager of Osun Water Corporation, said refusal of people to pay for water consumption was the one of the challenges the corporation was facing.
Owojuyigbe said people still believed that water was a social amenity, adding that all over the world “water is a social good’’.
According to him, urban water supply is capital intensive which needs adequate funding. (NAN)
_AUG 02, 2019 @17:52 GMT |
Tags: others urge govt. to provide potable water to Nigerians WASH
