BY AMEH IDUJAGI, JALINGO – Lack of adequate funding has been identified as the major obstacle militating against the provision of needed adequate portable water supply in the country.
Managing Director of the Taraba Water and Sewerage Corporation (TAWASCO), Mr Buba Siam announced this at a Knowledge Cafe (Mu-Gana) quarterly meeting between TAWASCO, E-WASH and CSOs involved in the E-WASH projects in the state.
Siam said that despite efforts by the Corporation to ensure adequate water supply to citizens of the state, lack of adequate funding has continued to militate against achieving the objective.
He regretted that despite abundant water resources, Nigerians still do not have portable water on their tables due largely to government negligence and lack of political will.
According to him; “It is so sad that we live in an environment that is suffering serious degradation due to human activities.
“Sanitation has become a global issue of serious concern. Regrettably, despite abundant water resources, most Nigerians still do not have portable water on their tables.
“Nigeria is ranked poorest in terms of water supply to her citizens in the whole of Africa. In Taraba state, despite our conscious efforts, we have not been able to meet the water demands of our customers.
“Water supply and sanitation are capital intensive and without adequate funding, there is little the utility companies can do” Siam said.
Some of the civil society organizations that spoke at the meeting noted that there is still a lot of households even within the state capital that are not yet connected to the water supply channels and regretted preference to open defecation by most people especially in the rural areas and lack of toilet facilities at some public places.
