Mr Bassey Ebit and Mrs Juliet Orok spoke on behalf of the participants. They are positive that if the bill and policy become operational, lives will be positively impacted.
By TheInvestigator
The Cross River State Government has urged residents to be hopeful of improved Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services.
Engr Okon Ita, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources gave the charge at the second review meeting of the 2011 Water Supply and Sanitation Policy and the Open Defecation Prohibition Bill. The 2-day review meeting was held at Monty Suits in Calabar, the state capital on the 26th and 27th of February, 2025.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources who doubles as the chairman of the State Task Group on WASH (STG-WASH) said the lack of effective regulation of the WASH sector is part of the reason the state nosedived.
He said “Cross Riverians should be happy, relaxed that in no distant future, the sector is going to be regulated. There would be serious planning. We’ll have things done the way they should be done, the water sector will come alive again and everything concerning water would be better off than what we have right now.”
Furthermore, he stated that public health would be improved if the sector is revived with the right legislation. “Once that is done you would notice we won’t have many of the diseases ravaging our communities. If we get all these things right we will have a better society and people will be happier.” Engr Ita asserted.
The second review process was facilitated by a consultant, Dr Terwase Shabu. Speaking to journalists after the meeting, he described the level of participation as satisfactory.
His words “From the level of participation and level of engagement with the State Task Group on WASH I am very satisfied.”
About some of the gaps in the policy and bill reviewed, he said “The issues in the first policy are no longer relevant and became obsolete and if we seek to pass those policies into law it won’t address those challenges in the area of water, sanitation and hygiene.”
The Programmes Manager of WASH System for Health Programme by Self Help Africa (SHA), implementation partner to the State, Mr John Wali thanked the current administration led by Senator Bassey Edet Otu for the willingness to improve WASH service delivery in Cross River.
A 7-man coordination committee headed by the STG-WASH Chairman, Engr Okon Ita was inaugurated to lead the process of bringing the policy and bill to life. The committee members were drawn from the Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of International Donor Coordination, NEWSAN, Cross River State Water Board Limited, RUWASTSSA, and a consultant.
Mr Bassey Ebit and Mrs Juliet Orok spoke on behalf of the participants. They are positive that if the bill and policy become operational, lives will be positively impacted.
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