From Maurice Okafor, Enugu.
One of the campaign promises of Governor Peter Mbah, which his administration is currently striving to accomplish is the restoration of pipe borne water to Enugu metropolis within his first 180 days in office. Whereas other parts of the state will follow subsequently.
In as much as the state government is making progress in this direction, a non-partisan group of residents have assembled themselves voluntarily to play complimentary roles that would help in achieving and sustaining the vision, without demanding for a token.
The group which operates under the aegis of ‘Peter Mbah Water Project Volunteers(PMWPV) met with Hoteliers,Restaurant owners,Shopping mall owners,etc in Enugu at the weekend, as part of their engagement with critical stakeholders who use large quantity of water to sustain their business in addition to domestic consumption.
The Director General of Peter Mbah Water Project Volunteers(PMWPV),Hon Madus Mathias, SA to former Governor Ugwuanyi,said the group is a non partisan independent group,voluntarily committed to the realuzation of restoring pipe borne water to Enugu metropolis, a cardinal policy of Governor Peter Mbah administration.
He stated,”The Volunteers project is determined and committed to mobilize Ndi Enugu to take ownership of the water project of the new government by resisting sabotage,theft, mismanagement and the use of substandard materials for the greater Enugu Water project.
Our activities are well structured and coordinated across the 17 local government areas,to ensure we do not encroach into the duties of substansive arms of the government,rather we serve as an invaluable collaborator, a watchdog, while interfacing between the government and the people ,which includes the cooporate bodies,private institutions and individual residents of Enugu”.
He said their Volunteers will offer assistance in offering technical support,Project Supervision/Monitoring. Giving situation reports,Sensitising the public and the task of protecting the facilities.
According to him, PMWPV which already have over 1000 members across the 17 local government areas in the state will also get involved in organiding conferences and workshops on water hygiene and usage,social and water lifestyle events.
He said that in line with Governor Peter Mbah strategy to generate employment from restoration of pipe born water in Enugu metropolis and other parts of the state,PMWPV has commenced free training for those who wish to become plumbers. The plumbers will be in charge of laying the pipes and equipments for reticulating of pipe born water in the communities and every home.
He disclosed that PMWPV has also reached a partnership agreement on training of it’s members on fire fighting as a measure of creating jobs for them and mitigating fire incidents across the state.
The DG,PMWPV,Hon Madus Mathias,stressed that the engagement with Hotel and restaurant owners in Enugu state,stems on the fact that they are among the major stakeholders who need water for their daily services,stating the next engagement will be with the Landlords, while hospitals and schools, etc,will follow thereafter.
The representative of the state Ministry of Water Resources who graced the occasion, Mr Obunna Emmanuel, commended Governor Mbah administration for his wholistic approach in tackling the perennial lack of pipe born water in Enugu metropolis.
He lamented that the previous administration tried but their efforts were not big enough to have resolved the problem,which invariably left most residents at the mercy of water tankers owned the private sector.
Mr Obunna Emmanuel refuted the allegation of sabotage from some quarters at the state ministry of water resources, who receive bribes from private tanker owners to ensure the efforts of previous administration in restoring pipe borne water to the metropolis did not materialise, so they will continue feeding fat on the residents by rendering their supply at exhorbitant costs.
Mr Obunna stressed the state government will still need the services of the private sector under Public Private Partnership(PPP) in it’s effort to provide pipe borne water across the state,after restoration to Enugu metropolis is completed.
Most hotel owners who attended the strategic meeting agreed to move along with PMWPV,lamenting they spend lots of money in depending on Tanker waters as the only source of supply to their various hotels.
Checks revealed that most Enugu residents are being exploited by Water tanker owners through incessant hiking the cost of a tanker water,since the residents have no other alternative but relies on water from 9th mile,provided by the water tankers alone.
A 2.000 litres of water drawn from 9th mile by the water tankers costs between N7,000 and N10,000, depending on location of the residents.
It is unfortunate that many densely populated axis of the city metropolis like Thinkers Corner, have not fetched water from tap within their compound within the past six years.Parts of Abakpa, Trans Ekulu, Emene,Agbani road, etc are also suffering the same fate.
Most residents welcomed Governor Mbah’s vision to restore pipe born water to Enugu metropolis and are already dreaming it.
