AKANIMO SAMPSON

SAFE WATER STILL A FAR CRY IN NIGER DELTA

IN the Niger Delta, Nigeria's honey comb, safe water delivery is still a far cry, and non-availability of safe drinking water is believed to be threatening millions of citizens in the oil and gas region. Findings by this reporter tend to show that one of the most critical needs of the oil-bearing communities, particularly those in the riverine areas, is drinking water.

Public health officials in the region are of the view that water accounts for an estimated 80 per cent of all diseases and one-third of all deaths in the developing world. In the Niger Delta area where the natural water sources have been polluted by oil production activities, they estimate that water could account for over 60 per cent of all deaths in the oil communities, and some 90 per cent of all diseases there.


Although the oil region is largely riverine, oil production activities appeared to have polluted the region’s natural water sources, making them increasingly unsafe for human consumption. As a result, one of the priorities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), an official interventionist agency in the region, has been the provision of potable drinking water.

Since the inauguration of the development commission by former President Olusagun Obasanjo, on December 21, 2000, around 120 of the 806 projects undertaken by the development agency then were recorded as water projects. According to the NDDC, “most are delivered with standby generators and purpose-built generator house, water treatment facility as well as service quarters,” adding that some of the very remarkable projects undertaken include the Epie Water Scheme and the Oloibiri water project, all in Bayelsa State.

During the Obasanjo administratio0n, the Federal Government reportedly set aside N10.6 billion for 1,330 new water supply schemes with the intention of providing additional 8.14 million people with potable water across the country. Water Resources Minister then, Mr.Muktar Shagari, claimed in Abuja that the total national coverage at that time was about 62 per cent. “When we started in 1999, it was 30 per cent. We have improved water supply from 30 per cent when we took over to 62 per cent,” the ex-minister said.


But the Obasanjo water project did not reach Kaiama, the home town of the Ijaw freedom fighter, the late Isaac Adaka Boro, in Bayelsa state that sits by the bank of River Nun. Despite the official neglect, Co-ordinator of Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), a civil society group, Mr. Gaia Sprocati in an e-mail to our correspondent on Tuesday,announced that the Niger Delta Wetlands Centre has completed a key solar water project in Kaiama, designed around a deep borehole (well) and a capacity to pump 10,000 gallons of water per day.



''The project is intended to bust a number of myths, such as the assertion that regions with low cloud cover are not suitable for solar, and provide a working model from others to learn from'', SDN said.



The impetus for the project was the hundreds of failed (diesel-powered) water projects dotted across the Niger Delta region that generally have functioned for a year or less before failure and abandonment.



Vice President Goodluck Jonathan's community, Ogbia, also in Bayelsa state, working with the SDN and partners has reportedly documented the pattern of these failures with their own short video. ''It prompted at least temporary repairs to existing systems, but such responses remain the exception rather than the rule'', SDN said.



Continuing, the group said, ''the apparent simplicity of the solar system should not be cause for overlooking the lessons that can be learnt. To get top quality drinking water they had to bore to 850feet and make a number of careful decisions on design and integration of components. However, these challenges have meant that the Wetlands Centre now has the answers to a wide range of questions that arise when trying to design technically sustainable systems for the region.



''A concern that poorly implemented solar powered projects are already leading to similar failures to generator based systems prompted the Wetlands Centre to strive for a model of the highest efficiency and technical standards, among other things eliminating the need for batteries to store power.



''Solar water systems have a particular strength in that they eliminate the need for generators and fuel (often a cause of abandonment). A first visit to the site suggests they have achieved their initial goal splendidly, but it is vital that others now draw on their technical experience and that communities carefully manage what is still a limited resource''.


Experts however, define “safe water” as water that is physically unobjectionable in properties, chemically with desirable composition and biologically uncontaminated.

In the Niger Delta communities, safe water delivery does not appear to be able to keep pace with demands. Planners in the oil region are claiming that population growth in the region is faster than water supply development, thus resulting in deteriorating coverage of the service.

From the available facts on the ground, the existing system of safe water supply in the Niger Delta cannot be scaled up without first making structural and institutional changes. Establishment sources in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, say declining budgetary allocation has been a major problem of safe water delivery. With the limited funds, the authorities could hardly provide more than subvention and subsidy to the water agencies.

Analysts say the declining expenditure and under-investment trends are not conducive to achieving the goals of safe water delivery. The national policy on water provides that water agencies should generate enough money through water rate collection at least, for operation and maintenance. But the water boards are claiming that they cannot collect enough revenue because they have been restricted by government from charging economic rates.

For the water agencies, the only cushion to the situation is sourcing of fund through commercial loans either from local sources or through international lending establishments like the World Bank and African Development Bank (ADB) for the urban water supply. The rural water supply is said to be partly assisted by the Federal Government, international agencies and some donor countries.

In the mean time, the national policy on water, provides for institutional arrangements for the operation of the urban, semi-urban and rural water delivery. While the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources is charged with the responsibilities of policy advice and formulation, data collection, monitoring and co-ordination of water resources development, the river basin development authorities are charged with the development, operation and management of reservoirs for the supply of bulk water for use in their areas of jurisdiction. They form intermediaries between Abuja and the states on water supply and rural development.

At the state level, the water boards are responsible for urban, semi-urban and rural water supplies. In Akwa Ibom State, for instance, it was gathered that the state’s water company is responsible for urban and semi-urban water supply, while the state’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWATSAN) is in charge of the rural water supply.

At the grassroots level, local government councils are responsible for the provision of safe water to the rural communities. But it seems because of lack of funds and gross shortage of manpower, this function has not been effectively carried out.

However, the objective of the national policy on water is to provide sufficient safe water to all Nigerians in an affordable and sustainable way through participatory investment by the three tiers of government, the private sector and the beneficiary. This was targeted at improving safe water service coverage to 60 per cent at the end of 20003. The policy also provides for extension of service coverage to 80 per cent of the population by the year 2007, extension of the service coverage to 100 per cent of the population in the year 2011, and sustain 100 per cent full coverage water supply for the growing population beyond year 2011.

Like in all rural communities of the country, sources say rural water supply should guarantee minimum level of service of 30 litres per capita per day within 250 metres of the community serving about 250 – 500 persons per water point.

Over the years, safe water delivery and the demand has allegedly continue to widen. Insiders say when viewed against the backdrop of under-investment and declining budgetary allocation to the water sector vis-a-vis increasing population and economic activities, this, according to them, leaves very little or no hope of bridging the gap.

In the circumstance, the authorities will have to take tough measures in a frantic bid to attain targets of safe water delivery not only in the oil communities of the Niger Delta, but throughout the country. Our sources say policies and strategies that are result-driven and efficient “must” be adopted. ENDS