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Tag: Water

  • Niger Govt. to spend N50bn on water

    Niger State Government said on Wednesday that it would spend over N50 billion on the reticulation of Minna, Suleja, Bida and Kontagora water works.

    Gov. Abubakar Bello told newsmen in Minna that the state government would go into Public Private Partnership (PPP) to ensure adequate water supply in major towns in the state.

    Recall that the state government had in 2016, declared a state of emergency on the water sector starting with Chanchaga water works.

    Bello said that the government had spent N2 billion on the purchase of 60 water pumps and other equipment from Germany for Chanchaga water works.

    He added that government would go into partnership with investors to instal pumps, water meter and other relevant accessories across the major towns to enhance water supply.

    “When we took over the government, we met a dilapidated water infrastructure — water pipes were broken down beyond repairs, the engines were not functioning; virtually everything was in bad shape.

    “We started with Chanchaga water works; we constructed access roads, purchased new equipment and repaired broken water pipes and engines.

    “We couldn’t fold our hands to watch our people continue to suffer for water; that was why we declared a state of emergency on water sector and I can say that we have recorded quite a success in water supply.

    “Even though major cities in the state still do not have adequate water supply, we have taken a holistic approach and doing everything possible to ensure adequate water supply.

    “We are going into partnership with investors through PPP to instal water pumps and water meters in the major cities. This is the only way can ensure regular water supply.”

    The governor called for positive attitudinal change towards maintenance of government property.

    He noted that negative attitude constituted a major problem hindering the development of the state.

    The governor appealed to the media as partners in progress, to continue to support the government by publicising its programmes.

     

  • Zamfara Govt. expends N9.2b on water projects

    Zamfara Governor, Abdul’aziz Yari has said his administration has spent over N9.2 billion on 30 water projects across the state.

    Yari disclosed this in Gusau on Tuesday while speaking at the 2018 Democracy Day Celebration held at Zamfara Trade Fair Complex, Gusau.

    He said since water was considered as a necessity of life, his administration had since inception in 2011, came up with a special water policy to address the problems of water scarcity in the state.

    “We copied an underground water system from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) water project executed in the state and selected 30 towns and villages across the 14 local government areas of the state that benefited from project”, he said.

    According to him, other sectors that the state government gave emphasis to within his seven years of stewardship are in the area of education, health, agriculture and road.

    He said as education remains bedrock for future development of every society, his government have invested extensively in the sector.

    “Among the projects we executed under the sector were renovation of 18 Senior and Junior Secondary Schools across the state at the cost of over N4.7 billion.

    “We also spent over N3.7 billion for renovation of 112 primary schools, local government education secretaries’ offices and three Model Primary Schools in Gusau and Talata-Mafara local government areas.

    “Over 20 years after the state creation, the present administration came up with a policy to establish the state university which is going to be located in Talata-Mafara; we earmarked N8 billion for the project.

    “We have already secured approval from the National Universities Commission; we are making efforts to ensure that the institution takes off next year.”

    Yari added that the administration had built 130 mosques and Islamic schools at the cost of over N1.6 billion, spent N6.8 billion on fertilizer and over N3.6 billion on the renovation of health facilities.

    “We are making arrangement to establish three referral hospitals in Gummi, Kaura-Namoda and Tsafe towns”, he said.

    The governor further said that the administration had under the period of review spent over N2.2 billion to link 218 communities with national grid and N651 million on the construction of eight fire service stations across the state.

    Yari also said various projects had been executed across the 14 local government areas including the construction of 20 kilometers of township roads in each of the local councils.

     

  • As planet expands, water quality, supply is declining – UN warns

    The UN on Monday warned that as the global population expands and the planet warms, demand for water is rising, while the quality and reliability of our water supply is declining.

    In the 2018 edition of the World Water Development Report, the UN said world should look to nature for better ways to maintain supplies of water, keep it clean, and protect people from droughts and floods.

    The UN said one response is to invest more in protecting ecosystems that recycle water, such as wetlands and vegetation, and spend less on concrete flood barriers or wastewater treatment plants.

    Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, which coordinates the report, called for “new solutions” to tackle “emerging challenges to water security caused by population growth and climate change”.

    “If we do nothing, some five billion people will be living in areas with poor access to water by 2050,” she said in a statement.

    Demand for water is expected to increase by nearly one-third by 2050, said Gilbert Houngbo, chair of UN-Water, in the report’s foreword.

    To help manage competing demands for freshwater – whether to quench human thirst, water crops or produce electricity, UNESCO recommended “working with nature, rather than against it” in a bid to make water use more efficient, cost-effective and healthier for people and the environment.

    “For too long, the world has turned first to human-built, or ‘grey’, infrastructure to improve water management,” wrote Houngbo.

    “In so doing, it has often brushed aside traditional and indigenous knowledge that embraces greener approaches.”

    UNESCO outlined the benefits of “nature-based solutions”, which use or mimic natural processes to increase water availability, improve its quality and reduce risks linked to water-related disasters and climate change.

    Those solutions include changing farming practices so the soil retains more moisture and nutrients, harvesting rainwater, re-charging aquifers, conserving wetlands that capture runoff and decontaminate water, restoring floodplains and turning rooftops into gardens.

    UNESCO cited estimates that agricultural production could be increased by nearly 20 percent worldwide if greener water management practices were used.

    Richard Connor, editor-in-chief of the report, said switching to a “conservation agriculture” model could bring high and rapid returns, but achieving it on a large scale would require political will at the national level.

    “Agriculture internationally remains dominated by industrial (farming), and it can be a little more difficult to influence the private-sector interests that are involved,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    He said some companies were adopting more sustainable practices, while consumers – mainly in Europe and North America – increasingly prefer organic, locally grown food.

    Inside cities, the challenge is to capture and filter more water using “green infrastructure” – from water retention ponds to wild spaces that double up for leisure activities.

    And out of town, in the basins on which cities rely, water users like farmers need to cooperate with municipal authorities to ensure enough clean water for all.

    UNESCO said New York, for example, has protected its three biggest watersheds since the late 1990s, resulting in an unfiltered water supply that brings savings of more than 300 million dollars per year on water treatment and maintenance costs.

    Connor said “grey” infrastructure – such as piped water to slums, dams to control water flow on rivers, or concrete walls to keep out big storm surges and floods – would still be needed.

    Yet while growing amounts are spent on green infrastructure and other nature-based solutions, evidence suggests they account for less than 1 percent of total investment in infrastructure to manage water resources, the report said.

    Connor pointed to the extra advantages of using natural ways to manage water, including the potential to boost biodiversity, jobs, health and carbon storage.

    “If you start to look at these co-benefits that often do not exist with grey infrastructure … it should tip the investment decisions towards more nature-based solutions,” he said.

     

  • Fossils fuels and the water cycle – What it means for us as Africans – Glen Tyler

    By Glen Tyler, South Africa Team Leader, 350Africa

    The water crisis affecting millions of people around the world is directly and inevitably linked to steadily-worsening climate change. In South Africa this means more Day Zero’s and a future of uncertainty. This is highly unlikely to be a once off event, and we would do well to learn from the experience of Brazil and other water stressed countries.

    Whether we actually face Day Zero or are saved by the rain, the Cape Town water crisis has created enough of a stir internationally to make people realise just how bad the global situation around water is. As the world’s biggest water-related event – the World Water Forum – kicks off in Brazil this month, with participants turning their thoughts to the theme of sharing water, it is imperative to acknowledge first, what’s brought us to the brink of this slowly-unfolding global disaster.

    The situation that Cape Town faced is just another extreme example of a problem that experts around the world have long warned against. NearlyMore than one billion people in the world do not have access to clean, safe drinking water and another 2.7 billion have a shortage of water for at least one month each year. Future projections are not optimistic either. According to the United Nations, the global demand for fresh water will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030, thanks to a combination of climate change, human action and population growth. As predicted by the FAO(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), two-thirds of the world’s population will face severe water shortages in only 20 years. This is already happening in countries such as Somalia and South Sudan that are affected by civil strife largely because of water shortages.

    In most parts of the world, the water situation is already compromised by the inadequate management and poor treatment of this scarce natural resource by local governments, and the negligence of industrial users, particularly those in the agribusiness, mining and fossil fuels sectors. Not only do they use up vast quantities of clean water, they often pump out highly-toxic effluents that can contaminate rivers and underground aquifers. Now, as climate change affects precipitation patterns across the planet, several previously ‘safe’ regions find themselves at risk of severe drought.

    By compromising water availability, desertification affects not only the consumption of potable water, but also reduces agricultural productivity, which in turn threatens food security. In countries like Brazil, that rely on hydroelectric power, another easily-overlooked consequence of the drought will be the cyclical impact on the power supply. With the reservoirs of the hydroelectric dams empty, the Brazilian government is forced to fire up the fossil-fueled thermal plants. These thermal plants, in turn, need a lot of water to cool the machines. Thus, in addition to paying more for the energy used in their homes, the population also sees the little water they have left being consumed by the thermoelectric plants.

    This is the case of the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex, in Ceará, Brazil. Pecém I and II are the two largest coal-fired thermoelectric plants in the country and are authorized by the state government to collect up to 800 liters of water per second (or 70 million liters per day) from the Castanhão Water Supply, which could supply a city of 600 thousand inhabitants.

    The largest public reservoir in Brazil for multiple uses, Castanhão is usually responsible for supplying the entire metropolitan region of Fortaleza, where almost half of the state’s population lives. Having reached its dead volume last November, the reservoir has stopped supplying the capital of Ceará for about 10 days, until the minimum volume of 173.34 million cubic meters of water was restored. In South Africa, a similar situation could emerge, with the banks like the Development Bank of Southern Africa wanting to fund the building of a new coal fired power station in Lephalale, Limpopo – an already water stressed region.

    These are not isolated cases limited to the more obviously arid parts of the world. A 2014 survey of the world’s 500 largest cities estimates that one in four are in a state of water stress. The financial capital of Brazil and one of the 10 most populous cities in the world, São Paulo went through a calamity situation similar to Cape Town in 2015, when the Cantareira, its main reservoir, was below 4% of its capacity. The water crisis was considered finished in 2016, but in January 2017 the main reserves were 15% lower than expected for the period, bringing up questions once again around the future of water supply in the city.

    And yet, despite these repeated reminders, governments continue to allow the exploitation of precious water reserves; worse, for the very industries that further contribute to climate change. The Guarani Aquifer, located under the territories of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, is the main freshwater reserve in South America and one of the largest underground systems in the world. The aquifer has been constantly threatened by cross-border exploratory activities such as fracking, for the extraction of shale gas. Producing 50 quadrillion liters of water per year, it has the capacity to supply 400 million people. Recent news reports have also raised a new alarm: the government of Brazil is allegedly in negotiations with Coca Cola and Nestle for privatisation of this vital natural resource, with reports suggesting the companies might receive contractual concessions lasting over a hundred years.

    In addition to all the socio-environmental impact, and precisely because they are vulnerable and finite, the limited sources of drinking water have already caused serious geopolitical disputes. In Chad, Lake Chad – possibly one of the worst water related crises globally – has shrunk to one-twentieth of its size 40 years ago, fuelling conflict between Nigeria and Cameroon. Without a radical change of behaviour, and of policy at every level of governance, the wars for access to this valuable resource will be unavoidable.

    The need for change is as imperative as it is overdue: we must break the cycle of environmental damage being caused by the fossil fuel industry, introduce strict governance on common resources – not just water, but land, forest cover and air as well – and secure instead a more sustainable future that puts renewable energy in the hands of communities. The solution to the water crisis will come from the same source as the solution to other environmental crises – people power!

  • SERAP to FG: Explain why Nigerians still drink contaminated water despite budgetary allocations

    Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has requested Engr. Suleiman Adamu, Minister of Water Resources and Rural Development to “explain why Nigeria’s water and sanitation infrastructure has continued to deteriorate and millions of Nigerians have to resort to drinking water from contaminated sources with deadly health consequences, despite the authorities claiming to have spent trillions of naira of budgetary allocations on the sector since the return of democracy in 1999.”

    The organization said, “Many toilets in public offices are out of order because of lack of water while millions of Nigerians remain desperate for water in their homes, often resorting to contaminated sources and drilling their own boreholes that can become easily mixed with sewage, with negative environmental impacts, and devastating for people’s health.”

    The organization therefore requested Engr. Adamu to “use his leadership position to provide within 14 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter detailed information on the spending on specific water and sanitation projects and their locations carried out by the Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development for the following years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 (1999-2016); as well as details of allocations to the 36 states of the federation.”

    The organization said, “Should Engr. Adamu fail to provide the information within 14 days, SERAP would take all appropriate legal actions to compel the government to act on this matter.”

    In an open letter dated 2nd March 2018, and signed by SERAP deputy director Timothy Adewale, the organization expressed “serious concernthat millions of Nigerians do not have access to clean and potable water and adequate sanitation. There is no water to show for the huge budgetary allocations and purported spending and investment in the sector since the return of democracy in 1999. Successive governments have failed to improve affordability of water for millions of low-income Nigerians, thereby denying them access to water.”

    The letter read in part: “Contractors handling water projects are reportedly engaging in schemes like the deliberate use of substandard pipes, among others, to make profit, leading to loss of water. This dearth of water also affects sanitation. The large number of broken down water facilities across the country has hindered effective water supply to the citizens.”

    “Millions of Nigerians (mostly children) lie sick, bodies ravaged by cholera, typhoid fever, dysentry among other diseases. An estimated 194,000 Nigerian children under the age of 5 die annually from these preventable diseases. There is almost no state and/or local government in Nigeria without abandoned water projects or one whose construction has gone on forever, creating a veritable opening for fraud and assuring the continued suffering of many.”

    “The Federal Ministry of Water Resources is responsible for large water resources development projects and water allocation between states. The right to water is a human right, which places certain responsibilities upon the government including your Ministry to ensure that people can enjoy sufficient, safe, accessible and affordable water, without discrimination.”

    “Nigeria has received donations running into several billions of dollars from the African Development Bank, the European Union, UNICEF, USAID, World Bank among others to implement water projects without any feasible improvement on access to water. The African Development Bank has invested over $905million in the sector since 1971. Nigeria is currently investing over N85billion in the water sector, yet millions of Nigerians do not have access to portable water, and have resorted to drilling of boreholes, with negative environmental impacts.”

    “SERAP is seriously concerned that alleged stealing or mismanagement of these large sums may be responsible for the lack of access of millions of Nigerians to clean and portable water, with its attendant consequences. Due to inadequate maintenance of water facilities, Nigerians have contacted various water-borne diseases like typhoid fever, cholera, diarrhoea, hookworm, infection and Hepatitis A; some others have died because of these diseases.”

    “The disclosure of the information requested will provide SERAP and the public with clarity on how funds allocated to the Ministry have been spent on specific projects, with details of locations of water and sanitation projects across the country; the possible challenges the Ministry might be facing and engender robust conversations on possible solutions to better the conditions of Nigerians and improve access to clean and portable water, especially for those living in extreme poverty.”

    “Considering the impacts of water on other sectors of the economy and its impact on the realisation of other human rights, the judiciousspending of the money approved to the water sector will go a long way to preserve the nations underground and surface water sources and prevent the environmental disaster that may result from concurrent drilling of boreholes by several Nigerians, due to lack of access to clean and portable water.”

    “SERAP believes that as a matter of public interest, the citizenry is entitled to know how its wealth is being used, managed and administered in a democratic setting, as this affects the commonwealth of the society. SERAP firmly believes that the request falls within the Nigerian citizens’ right to know as guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Nigeria is a state party, and the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.”

    “By virtue of Section 1 (1) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011, SERAP is entitled as of right to request for or gain access to information, including information on the details of the expenditure and budgetary spendings of the Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development for the preceeding years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 (1999-2016).”

    “Also, by virtue of Section 4 (a) of the FOI Act when a person makes a request for information from a public official, institution or agency, the public official, institution or urgency to whom the application is directed is under a binding legal obligation to provide the applicant with the information requested for, except as otherwise provided by the Act, within 7 days after the application is received.”

    “The information being requested does not come within the purview of the types of information exempted from disclosure by the provisions of the FOI Act. The information requested for, apart from not being exempted from disclosure under the FOI Act, bothers on an issue of national interest, public welfare, public peace and concern, interest of human rights, social justice, good governance, transparency and accountability.”

     

  • Water Corporation urges Lagosians to use water wisely

    Water Corporation urges Lagosians to use water wisely

    The Managing Director of Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), Mr Muminu Badmus, on Friday urged Lagosians to imbibe the culture of water conservation.

    Badmus gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    He said that the global water scarcity threat necessitates wise usage of water by consumers.

    According to him, any consumer that uses water wisely will appreciate the metering system the corporation has adopted to protect the interest of residents.

    ”The metering system has made water consumers to be aware of how much the corporation charges per cubic meter, which is equivalent to 1000 litres.

    ”For clarity, low density areas pay N200, high density areas, N250 and commercial users N350 per cubic meters respectively.

    ”This is the cheapest rate you can find in any country,” he said.

    Badmus said that the Corporation has metered about 32,000 properties in the first phase of the exercise.

    According to him, 24,000 pre-paid meters, 6,000 old meters and 2,000 mechanical meters have been installed in Lekki axis, Victoria Island Annex, Surulere, Omole and Ikeja among others.

    Badmus said that the metering of houses would continue to other communities not yet covered once there was delivery of additional meters.

    He enjoined the residents not yet metered not to relent in paying their water bills.

    The managing director said that those metered would be recharging their cards when they run out of water.

    Badmus said that the corporation was working relentlessly to have potable water to supply to areas not yet covered in its network.

  • 59,000 children die annually of water-related diseases in Nigeria – FG

    The Federal Government has said over 59,000 children under the age of five die yearly from preventable water and sanitation related diseases.

    The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu said this at a news conference to commemorate the 2017 Global Handwashing Day on Thursday in Abuja.

    The minister also noted that washing with soap before eating and after using the toilet could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention.

    He regretted that 87 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to handwashing facilities.

    According to a report on Daily Trust newspaper, the minister, who spoke through the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Musa Ibrahim, also quoted the recently launched Nigeria WASH Diagnostic Report which indicates that 69 per cent of public health facilities do not have access to a basic functioning hand hygiene station.

    While calling for the strengthening of the nation’s healthcare systems through good hand hygiene, especially during medical procedures, the minister noted that 15 per cent of patients globally develop one or more infections in hospital according to the 2015 reports of the World Health Organisation.

    He said a series of events which include hygiene promotion training for teachers, community health workers among others have been lined up to mark the Day, which, he said, is aimed at engaging children as agents of change and create an awareness on the adoption of the habit of washing hands at critical times.

    The United Nations General Assembly had in 2008 adopted every October 15 to mark the Day globally.

    The water problem in Nigeria has however reached crisis point. No day passes without stories or news about cases of water-borne diseases caused by a chronic shortage of safe water making the rounds. It is no longer news that this problem has remained hydra-headed despite colossal sums of money budgeted by past and present governments.

    Findings by Good Health Weekly reveal that for an average family of four in Lagos, a sizeable portion of their income is utilized to meet water requirements.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the World Health Organisation, WHO, and United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF in 2012 ranked Nigeria 3rd behind China and India as countries with the largest population without adequate water supply and sanitation coverage.

  • Why safe water is a compelling project

    -EU, UNICEF bring succour to Akwa Ibom community

    By Abu Veronica

    Seventy-year-old Harriet Sunday has lived her entire life in Ikot Esop community in Nsit Atai local government area in the oil-rich Akwa Ibom State, South South Nigeria.

    The community is home to more than a thousand four hundred persons and a majority of them are small-scale farmers and petty traders.
    Tucked in the lighter rain forest stock , this settlement is the typical African setting of ages when the continent was known to colonialists as “dark” and of “hewers of wood and fetchers of water”.

    Aside its beautiful scenery, Ikot Esop for centuries yearned for safe drinking water. As a young child, Mama, as Harriet is fondly called, said she dreaded waking up early and walking miles to the village stream to get water for the entire household.

    The task, she explained, was both backbreaking and time-consuming.

    Her ordeal increased when she became wife and mother of eight children. Now she had to work all day not only to provide water but also till the soil to put food on the table for her family, leaving her with less time to bond with her children.

    “It was difficult as a mother to get enough water for the entire family, if it were to be now, it wouldn’t have been like that,” she said, speaking in her local dialect.

    Asked if her husband ever helped out at the stream, she smiled and said no. Local customs put such job beyond men!
    ‎
    At the start of each year, she hoped and prayed the water situation improve, but as years turned into decades, she lost hope and the stream continued to be her last resort.

    The stream is popularly known as Iket Esop river and was the community’s only source of water supply for centuries, according to local accounts.
    ‎
    The stream is about 10-kilometre walk to and from the village centre‎. The road to it is slippery and untarred while rafia palm and chirping birds bid visitors welcome as they approach the mouth of the stream.

    The path to the river is hilly and steep with alternating holes as steps, the size of foot, dug at various points to aid movement and prevent accidents .And accidents were frequent. Often the women would slip off the steps. Many water pots and utensils were lost. Of course, injuries resulted, bruises and bone dislocation or fracture. As water was scarce, so medicare was far-fetched.Herbs were used to treat bruises while the local bone setter was the only veritable “physician”. And a woman would recall two family members who were confined to using walking stick early in life after they crashed on the path, till they passed on.

    Despite the hard road to the stream, its water is far from being ‎pure; part of its surface is covered with algae.
    ‎
    ‎”We use it to wash clothes, bathe and we have to boil the water before we drink,” Augustine Carlos, a tour guide, said.

    “Three communities depend on the stream for their source of water and some individuals come here to offer sacrifice‎ and pray to the goddess of the river. The water doesn’t get dry.”

    ‎Carlos said the poor quality of the water had repeatedly led to the outbreak of waterborne diseases in the village and it was in the bid to address it that members of the community in 2009 dug a well which supplies water only in the rainy season and dries up during the harmattan.

    Ukeme Etim, a driver, corroborated the story and noted that the dry season was the most difficult period for his family as it was difficult for them to get water.
    ‎
    Twenty three-year-old Edidion Pius, a mother of two, shared the same view.
    ‎
    But respite came the way of the villagers in 2013 when the village was selected for a water project under the Niger Delta support project sponsored by the European Union, UNICEF and the state government.Now modernity has come to the rural community. A proper water facility complete with treatment plant, overhead storage tanks and distributed by quality pipes and taps all over the community. Safe water is here, Ikot Esop is no more the same.

    The project saw water taps installed at different areas of Iket Esop, a development that has brought joy and excitement to members of the community.Threat to life via water-borne diseases and accidents on the path to the stream, has been eliminated.

    The women sang and danced at the launch of the project, saying they had now turned the page on decades of water scarcity and disease.

    They said they now invest quality time in their businesses which in turn has improved their living condition and hygiene. With infectious smiles in the crowd, Harriet said the water project was for her a “childhood dream come true”.

  • Ortom’s appeal holds no water, we’ll commence strike Sept 5 – Labour

    The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress in Benue have rejected Gov. Samuel Ortom’s appeal against a one-week warning strike proposed to start September 5.

    The warning strike is the first step by the workers who have declared a labour dispute with the state government over the non-payment of salaries.

    The workers, in a communique jointly signed by the NLC Chairman, Mr Godwin Anya and his TUC counterpart, Mr Ordue Tartenger, declared that the governor’s appeal was “unacceptable”.

    “His appeal is predicated on the prevailing economic situation, but the state has not stopped receiving statutory allocations from the federation account. This is besides the Internally Generated Revenue and other revenue receipts from the federal government.

    “He appealed for understanding without any offer; other allocations from the federal government and other revenue sources are still available to the government.

    “Supplementary support keeps coming from the Federal Government under various sub-heads – bailout, stabilization, Paris Club refunds, among others,” the workers said.

    The unions, therefore, declared Tuesday, September 5 – Wednesday, September 13 for the strike, and advised the government to implement the state of emergency it declared on payment of salaries, gratuities and pensions.

    Reacting, the Special Adviser to Ortom on Media and ICT, Mr Tahav Agerzua, said that the governor “placed all the cards on the table before the labour leaders”.

    He opined that the strike was not the solution because it would not bring the money needed to pay the salaries and arrears being demanded.

    The Benue workers are owed eight months salaries, with Ortom saying that N40bn was required to settle them.

     

  • Lagos water is germ free, Corporation MD assures residents

    Lagos water is germ free, Corporation MD assures residents

    The Managing Director of Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), Mr Minimum Badmus, on Thursday refuted a report that water supplied to Lagos households contained harmful germs.

    Badmus spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    He was reacting to a report by a national daily that there were harmful germs in public water samples taken from Abuja, Lagos, Plateau, Kano, Katsina and Enugu.

    According to Badmus, water produced in Lagos state and supplied to residents met the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

    NAN reports that the newspaper had claimed to have conducted an independent analysis of water samples from the five states and Abuja using American Public Health Association guidelines.

    The daily claimed that many of the samples did not meet WHO standards and the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality.

    However, Badmus said: “A comprehensive laboratory test and analysis have been carried out in all our facilities.

    ”It is clear that LWC water is safe and good for consumption as it is produced in conformity with WHO standards.

    ”Lagos water processes involve application of water treatment chemicals such as aluminum sulphate, hydrated lime and chlorine to purify the water and remove all hazardous substances to guarantee safe consumption.

    ”The quality assurance department of the corporation, monitors samples on regular basis.

    ”The department also subjects the samples to physical, chemical and microbiological tests in waterworks laboratories in conformity with acceptable standards,” he said.

    Badmus said that the corporation would soon install secondary chlorination points at strategic locations on the public water supply distribution networks.

    According to him, this will help to remove microbial contaminants entering water supply during distribution, and further guarantee protection against water borne diseases.

    He said that the LWC was committed to providing potable and uninterrupted water to the residents.

    Badmus assured members of the public that water produced by the corporation remained good for drinking and all other household uses. (NAN)