From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Government says that it would eliminate quacks in the water production industry in order to ensure quality production and consumption.
State Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, stated this at a three-day ongoing stakeholders’ forum on Water Management and Regulations in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Gogo-Jaja said the move was intended to ensure standard among water producers and service providers in the state.
The commissioner disclosed that plans are underway to give certifications to water producers, who have gone through the Ministry’s water sample testing.
‘There is a lot of quackery. There are people, who produce sachet water in their one-room apartment. There are people who do not have boreholes at all. Some of them all they need do is go to a printer, get somebody to produce sachet for them,’ he said.
‘We want to rid the industry of quacks and regulate the industry. We are not just meeting with the providers alone; we are also meeting with borehole drillers.
‘In the law, you are supposed to keep a certain metre. The standard is, if you don’t have up to 30 metres, that means, you must not use suck-away. If you don’t regulate them, you will see that there is an escape of suck-away water into the borehole of another.’
Meanwhile, the House Committee of Rivers State House of Assembly has reiterated the commitment of the ninth Assembly laws to protect and promote conducive business environment for people living and doing business in the state.
The Assembly said Law No 7 on Water Sector Development would soon become operational and agencies, as well as bodies involved in it will follow suit as prescribed, to activate into full action to produce portable water for consumers within Rivers State.