NAN-AE-2
Drillers
By Sunday John
Lafia, March 27, 2017 (NAN) The Nasarawa State Government says it will henceforth regulate the activities of borehole drillers so as to ensure that only competent persons are allowed to drill boreholes in the state.
Mr Simon Ajegena-Ibi, the General Manager of Nasarawa State Water Board, said this in Lafia on Monday in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said that the board’s decision was hinged upon the government’s determination to ensure that only standard boreholes were provided for people in the state.
He said that there were guidelines and processes which borehole drillers must follow before they could be allowed to operate in the state.
“With the inauguration of new officials of the state chapter of Borehole Drillers Association of Nigeria (BODAN), there will be a strong collaboration with them to ensure that their members adhere to the ethics of their profession.
“The board, with the directive of the state Ministry of Water Resources, will set the machinery in motion to ensure compliance.
“Anybody drilling borehole must get the necessary permission so as to checkmate proliferation of shabby boreholes constructed by quacks in the state,” he added.
Ajegena-Ibi grumbled that some boreholes were even drilled in gutters and other unhygienic places, without considering the health implications of drinking water from such places.
He said that members of the public should be their brother’s keepers by sharing water from their boreholes with their neighbours in order to avoid excessive digging of the ground.
“Due to lack of understanding, you see more than five houses in the same location drilling their own boreholes, instead of sharing water from just one borehole.
“Using only one would save whatever negative consequences that may arise because of too much digging of ground,” he said.
Ajegena-Ibi said that the board was now determined to live up to expectations, warning that it would no longer be business as usual for incompetent borehole drillers in the state. (NAN)
SDJ/MOL/OOK
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi and Dayo Komolafe