AUPCTRE rejects Plateau Water Sector Law, urges repeal
Water
By Martha Nyam
Jos, June 25, 2019 (NAN) The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), has kicked against the Plateau State Water Sector Law and called on Gov. Simon Lalong to repeal it.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Lalong recently signed the bill into law after the 8th Plateau House of Assembly passed it on the last day of sitting.
The law, among other provisions, endorsed the privatisation of the water sector in the state.
But AUPCTRE, in a speech delivered by its National President, Benjamin Anthony, at a Town Hall meeting on water privatisation on Tuesday in Jos, said that water was “too essential” to be left in the hands of private handlers.
The meeting was organised by AUPCTRE, in collaboration with Water Aid Nigeria and other civil society organisations.
“Water sustains life; it determines longevity. Access to it should not be hindered by privatisation,” Anthony said.
He urged Lalong to “immediately revoke this anti-people law and open discussions with the people on how to ensure that clean and safe water is available and affordable”.
The AUPCTRE boss said that residents of cities where water was handed over to profit entities had a litany of “galling experiences” raging from hike in water prices, poor quality service and outright denial of access to the poor.
“In some cases, many workers were sacked and never replaced. Aside massive job losses, service was reported to be poor because of shortage of good hands,” he said.
He said that privatising water supply would make it impossible to guarantee the universal access that the United Nations (UN), promotes.
Anthony also expressed disgust at the speed with which the 8th Assembly passed the bill on the last day of its sitting as well as the Governor’s rush to sign it into law, making it one of the first executive actions he took in his second term.
Also speaking, Mrs. Dorcas Lankat, Chairperson, AUPCTRE, Plateau Chapter, regretted that while international organisations were accelerating efforts towards meeting water related challenges, the Plateau government was more interested in making profit out of water.
“The Plateau government must explore more dignifying avenues to raise revenue instead of the `commodification’ of water,” she declared.
She called on the governor to repeal the sections of the law that privatised water supply in Plateau by sending the law back to the 9th Assembly in the overriding interest of the people.
Other AUPCTRE officials at the meeting urged local and international communities to mount pressure on the Lalong administration to promote progressive policies in the water sector rather than retrogressive actions that could worsen the plight of the poor. (NAN)
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By Ephraims Sheyin