‘How govt loses millions of dollars annually to faulty water policy’

Governments at all levels have been losing millions of dollars annually due to faulty water policy in the country, a water expert, Engr. Michael Oludare Ale, has said.
Engr. Ale, the National President of the Nigerian Association of Water Well Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners (AWDROP), noted that “governments don’t need to spend government money on water as there are windows of opportunities for the various state governments in this regard through which they could enhance the status of their water facilities and put smile on the faces of their citizens at different levels.”
He however maintained that this could come to bear “only if they have proper and institutional frameworks in place. These have to do with policy, staff and capacity building.”
Speaking with Daily Trust in Ibadan, Engr. Ale revealed that the draft Water Resources Master Plan put in place in the country with collaborative efforts from the Government of Japan “is still being kept in the cooler, gathering dust years after it was drawn.”
“The Japan International Cooperation Agency spent a lot of money on the Master Plan. The implementation procedure, recommendations, etc. are there. But it is still kept in the cooler. We are only good at getting documents. But implementation is the problem. I can say we don’t have water policy in Nigeria because the one we have, nothing has been done with it,” he stated.
While insisting that it was high time Nigerian authorities got it right as regards provision of potable water supply across the country, Engr. Ale lamented that “so many state governments are losing such wonderful, beautiful funding that could have come to them because they don’t have the right water policy.”
He said they don’t need to spend government money on water, as there are windows of opportunities for the various state governments in this regard through which they could enhance the status of their water facilities and put a smile on the faces of their citizens at different levels, only if they have proper and institutional frameworks in place. These have to do with policy, staff and capacity building, he added.
“Why are our governments not caring for water?  Why are we having boreholes drilled all over the cities?  Why are we having every government claiming to have dug hundreds of boreholes and people are not feeling the impact?  Government don’t even need the tax payers’ money for borehole activities; but if only they can get their activities done with due process and grants will come in to cater for that particular water need. It is a shame on any government that has no critical plan for water. And lack of that critical plan is why we are finding boreholes being drilled all over the cities. It is an indication that the government has no plan for water. And that is the reason why individuals that have dug boreholes in the cities must request for incentives from government for using their hard-earned money to make life comfortable for themselves because it is the responsibility of government to provide potable water supply for the citizens because without water, there is no life,” he said.