Delta Declares State Of Emergency On Water, Sanitation

DELTA State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has declared a state of emergency in the water and sanitation sectors.

He said government is concerned about the growing population and that a lot is needed to provide public and sanitation facilities.

Governor Okowa declared the state of emergency, yesterday, while inaugurating a steering committee to coordinate the Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Services (WASH) and proffer effective reforms as well as formulate policies to end open defecation.

“In the next four years, we will increase the allocation to water and sanitation sectors and hold those within the sector accountable as we intend to have good value for any money released.

“Water, as the saying goes, is life, but regrettably, we have not done enough collectively as a nation in the provision of public water and sanitation facilities for our ever growing population.

“Available statistics from the UNICEF-WHO Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) show that access to piped water on premises in urban areas declined from 32 percent in 1990 to less than 10 percent in 2015 and in the same token, access to improved sanitation dropped from 38 percent to 29 percent. This clearly suggests an erosion of WASH utility service coverage and it is shocking to say the least, that while population is increasing, WASH asset is depleting.

“Nigeria currently ranks number 2 in the world after India in terms of people defecating in the open, as about 25 percent of our population still practice open defecation. The Sustainable Development Goals 6.1 and 6.2 seek to stop open defecation by 2025 and ensure access to sustainable and safely managed WASH services by 2030,” Okowa said.