NAN-AE-9
Projects
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, Jan. 11, 2017 (NAN) The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, has urged development partners and charitable organisations to finance water and sanitation projects as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility to Nigerians.
Adamu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview in Abuja on Wednesday that it was time all stakeholders made accessing clean water a top priority.
According to him, the role water plays in any society cannot be over-emphasised.
He said the ministry had taken the lead in prioritising water and sanitation in its Partnerships for Extended Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) project, saying the target was to scale up access to water and sanitation by 2030.
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“We want to start talking with corporate organisations to tap into their corporate social responsibility funds and other philanthropic organisations, that they should spend a lot of money on water.
“They should understand the importance of spending more money on water supply and sanitation.
“We are not going to focus too much on urban water, because those are areas that are the responsibilities of the states.
“According to statistics, where we had poor coverage under the MDGs were in the rural areas.
“That is why our programme for now is starting with the rural areas, eventually, we will come to small towns and we could also support the states in their efforts to improve urban water supply in so many other ways.”
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The minister stressed the need for communities to take ownership of protecting water facilities, saying government alone cannot be left with the responsibility of providing and protecting such facilities.
He said the reason why projects failed was because most Nigerians believed that water projects were solely owned by governments.
He said all water schemes to be carried out in the ministry would have community participation as a necessity.
Adamu said the ministry has begun drilling of boreholes in IDP camps and communities displaced by insurgency.
According to him, this will go a long way to bridge the water and sanitation needs of the populace.
He said a lot of IDP camps still lacked water and basic sanitation.
He said lives would be improved and disease burden reduced to its barest minimum with access to water and sanitation.
He added that with Nigeria’s pledge to eradicate open defecation by 2025 deliberate steps must be taken to meet the goal.
Adamu said the goals would be met with water and basic sanitation projects in place. (NAN)
TAK/LAB/YEE
Edited by Lydia Beshel/Emmanuel Yashim
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