Access to safe drinking water is measured by the percentage of the population having access to and using improved drinking water sources
Nigeria has made modest progress in expanding access to water, sanitation, and hygiene to its rapidly growing population of 183 million people, the largest on the African continent.
Forty-eight percent of the population is said to have access to basic drinking water sources and 33 percent have access to sanitation.
However, in Jalingo, the Taraba State Capital, one seems to be taking a back as the increasing site of Water vendors known as “Mai Ruwa “in Hausa language who use plastic containers, Jericans in hand held trucks to supply water to residence across the city does not reflect the said progress been made in providing access to basic drinking water sources as well as Sanitation.
Ziti News correspondent who went round the city gathered that Water Vendors are now the major suppliers of household water needs of the populace, with the sources of their water supply ranging from streams, rivers, earthen bole holes and so on.
A thing of great concern is the safety of residence that are now left with little or no option than to rely solely on this kind of unregulated informal water supply system for their household needs including drinking water.
All this is coming after the claims of Taraba state government’s massive investment in the Water Sector, A major one which is the African Development Bank (AFDB) investing in township water supply in Taraba state alongside other states of the Federation in a loan secured by the Federal Government for that purpose.
In a chat with the Taraba State commissioner for water resources, Barrister Akirikwen Yusuf, SAN, he lauded the efforts made by the government to provide access to clean water to the populace saying it is work in progress.
“The Taraba state government is committed to its role in providing clean and portable water to Tarabans, this it has done and also doing through the institutional framework provided by the government as well as the huge resources committed to water project” he said.
When asked if “as a government, are you worried/concerned about the activities of this water vendors popularly called “Mai ruwa” who sell water to residence in trucks, their source been questionable, are they regulated? By who?
Barrister Akirikwen, SAN, said” Why not? That is the more reason why government has taken the challenge to save the situation by setting up a regulatory agency known as TAWASREC over a year ago to regulate the water sector”.
Upon investigation, Ziti News gathered that the said regulatory water agency, TAWASREC, which was set up by the Taraba State government twenty Three months ago has not received take off funds as at the time of filing this report, a situation that has rendered it redundant leaving the city’s water supply system unregulated.
The fear of an outbreak of water borne diseases is emanate in Jalingo considering some of the unhygienic sources of water fetched and supplied to residence, but no one seems to be interested or ready to take any action to guide this water Vendors, the “mai Ruwa” who for now feel they are rendering huge humanitarian services to the people who have no other sources of water than from them.
For how long will the Taraba State government continue to seat and watch, as such fundamental basic needs of the masses, which is “access to clean, portable water” is been hampered, unguided and unregulated is the question begging for immediate answers.
Although the Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, had assured that 90 percent of the state would have access to portable clean water before he exits office at the expiration of his second tenure in 2023 which is barely Fourteen months away.