NGO urges stoppage of privatization of government-owned water outfits
A non-governmental organization, NGO, Disability Not a Barrier Initiative, has urged governments at all levels to stop the privatization of government-owned water establishments or corporations, considering the importance of water to human lives.
The body made the appeal during what it tagged”, Fifth Africa Week of Action Against Water Privatization”, held in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.
The week-long event which drew participants and contributors from the media, religious bodies, Civil Society Organizations, students among others pointed out that the trend is a global affair, but beamed special focus on Nigeria and Ekiti state in particular.
In Ekiti, the forum noted that there is a Water Corporation Ministry, but unfortunately the government has privatized it on Private-Public-Partnership concerns to the suffering and detriment of the people. According to the stakeholders, this arrangement is where the distribution is more like from a private company. This implies that water is ‘commodified’ or privatizing the service that people should enjoy freely.
The situation they stressed, paints a picture of where the people are seeing water as a commodity to be purchased and no longer as a right. Adding that by the Charter of the United Nations, UN, water is a right, so commercializing it is inappropriate. The stakeholders pointed out that if the citizens are to pay for consumption of water, it should be in form of stipends for the maintenance and management of facilities providing the water.
The Executive Director, Disability Not A Barrier Initiative, Mr Olajide Funso, frowned at governments’ privatization option, emphasizing that the owners of the companies in charge of the privatized outfits are after profit-making to the discomfort of the common man. To him, the system should be for the public good, not unfair treatment.
Funso remarked, “let government manage water in collaboration with the citizens. If a bore-hole is sunk for a particular community by the government, the community should also help the government to manage it. Water supply is something that should be subsidized by the government for the citizens wellbeing”.
He said even by privatization of government water outfits, the employees will lose their jobs because the private owners will not retain all staff, thereby worsening the harsh economic situation that has crippled many families. He said, however, the trend is not only in Ekiti state, but globally,and appears to take a more painful approach in Nigeria.
The Executive Director disclosed that the World Bank has always released millions of dollars to states in Nigeria to tackle water supply and accompanying challenges, but the outcome remains abysmally pathetic. He reiterated the essence of water to life, adding that water serves a lot of purposes,
and the body composition relies on water to survive as humans consume it.
Other bodies that had input in the advocacy/campaign include Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, and Our Water,Our Right.
Source: Ekiti Podium
