Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Reng Ochekpe has said that the Water Sector Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan since the inception of the Administration was geared towards the provision of sustainable access to safe and sufficient water to meet the social and economic needs of all Nigerians.
The Minister made this remark on the occasion of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources 2014 Ministerial Platform on 3rd year of Transformation in the Water Sector at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja.
In the course of the presentation of the Ministry’s scorecard to journalists and other stakeholders, the Minister explained that the Ministry’s mandate include exploring, developing and managing surface and underground Water Resources through construction of Dams, Barrages, Dykes and other Hydraulic structures for flood control, water supply, hydro power generation and other purposes.
The Minister also disclosed that the primary responsibility for the provision of municipal and domestic water supply is that of the states and local governments but that the Federal Government intervenes so as to increase access with a view to meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 20:2020.
A significant element in the Ministry’s scorecard as revealed by the Honourable Ministry Mrs Sarah Ochekpe is Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) which she said is crucial to life and all human existence as it is the basis for securing the public health of the populace and for enhancing productivity and economic development.
The Minister pointed out that in the light of this, the Ministry is in active collaboration with the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS) and the states in an effort to promote Sanitation and hygiene with the support of Development Partners such as World Bank, Africa Development Bank (ADB), European Union (EU), UNICEF, UK-DFID and Water AID with a view to scale up access to basic sanitation.
Allied to this, she affirms that as part of the Ministry’s support to public health, it keyed into the National Ebola Virus Emergency Containment Plan of the Federal Government by carrying out Public enlightenment campaigns on hand washing at critical times as a measure to contain the spread of the Ebola Virus.
She added that the Ministry in conjunction with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) carried out the review and update of the National Water Resources Master Plan developed by JICA in 1995.
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