Water experts have called for basic infrastructural development and framework to be put in place, in order to provide a clean and safe water for the people in Rivers State.

Their views were made public at the World Water Day celebration held in Port Harcourt Monday by the state Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development.

Aside the challenge of providing quality water in the state, they  harped on the need for public responsibility and effective management by the authorities to make the natural resource available to the people.

Speaking on the topic, “Water Quality Challenges in Rivers State”, Dr. O.A. Bamgboye, Active Executive Director, National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna represented by Mr. Okanlawon Oni said providing good water quality was a big challenge hence the need to beef up regulatory framework.

The major set back, Dr. Bamgboye asserted, was that because of the high presence of  land, iron and other heavy metals in the water sources around the state according  to a study carried out by the institute last  year in the Niger Delta. Tasking the state regulatory agencies to wake-up to their responsibility, the NARI active executive director urged the state Water Board to install water treatments in all its reservoirs to reduce the dangers posed by these chemicals.

For Mrs. Koya Tauwa from Lagos State, the state should evolve an effective water supply policy to be driven by accountability, good planning and operational maintenance.

She lamented that despite several policy statements, the water sector has not received the attention it demands.  But since water is a basic human right, Tauwa stressed the need for a process that would make it available to all.

The water expert said the state should adopt a bottom-to-top policy backed by a legal framework without which good water quality would be elusive.