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From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
As residents of Kaduna struggle daily to access clean and safe water for domestic and agricultural purposes, the Society for Water and Sanitation raised concerns on Wednesday that over 65 per cent of areas that used to have water are now dry.
To reverse the trend, the group called on the Kaduna State Government to immediately restore the Ministry of Water Resources which is currently subsumed as a department in the Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure.
Addressing a press conference at its office located at Abakpa, Kaduna, the State Coordinator, Society for Water and Sanitation, Kuzauwat Ishaya Peter, lamented that densely populated areas like Rigasa, Television, Ungwan Romi, most parts of Ungwan Rimi, Ungwan Sarki, Mando, Gabasawa, Kawo and Ungwan Baro are experiencing hardships due to the failure of responsible government authorities to make water available for them.
According to him, the press conference, which was a part of this year’s World Water Day commemoration on the theme, “Ground Water: Making the Invisible Visible”, was intended to draw attention to the issue.
The group commended the state government for its investment in infrastructure in the water sub-sector, especially in the areas of rehabilitation and turn-around maintenance done across the waterworks in the state, with the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), which has provided over 3,800 solar-powered and handheld borehole across the rural areas.
‘We are concerned with the progressive and unabated emergence of dry zones in both the urban and small towns in the state. The dwindling situation of water supply in Kaduna state does not justify the amount of money that is said to have been invested in infrastructural development in the sub-sector,’ Peter stated.
‘We cal for the restoration of the Ministry of Water Resources. The situation where a key
Ministry as the Ministry of Water Resources is sub-zoomed into the Ministry of Public works
and Infrastructure as a mere department is not acceptable.
‘To make matters worse, RUWASSA is hanging between two landlords – Ministry for Public Works and Ministry for Local Government. This is a drawback for Kaduna State, a state that was one of the first to establish the Ministry of Water Resources and benefitted so much from the action.
‘Let the Ministry of Water Resources be restored so that all its relevant Agencies (KADSWAC, RUWASSA, KADWRA and the anticipated Agencies of Urban Sanitation and Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation) can enjoy parentage that is not estranged to them.
‘The now rested semi-urban scheme should be revisited, renovated and converted to solar
Powered schemes for increased access to clean/safe water and improved sanitation to citizens at a cost-effective rate.
‘We are concerned that the multi-billion naira Zaria waterworks are yet to run up to 50% of their capacity hence, there are dry zones emanating in Zaria and its environs. This is truly regrettable.
‘Access to clean and safe water is a water right issue and the government cannot afford to substitute the provision of such services for anything. Not urban renewal, not the cost of chemicals or the cost of power is an excuse not to increase citizens’ access to clean and sad water,’ he said.
He suggested community cooperation where five houses, for example, can sink a borehole to serve their water needs, which would, in turn, reduce expenses and reduce indiscriminate sinking of boreholes.
