Business

Ekiti Water, Sanitation Policy Will Ease Access To Clean Water – Official

Published

11 years ago

August 7, 2013

The impending Water Supply and Sanitation Policy of Ekiti State will boost clean water supply for the needs of the people, an official of the state’s water corporation, Mr. Olatunji Femi, said in Abuja last Wednesday.
Mr Femi, a senior hydrologist at the corporation, who is also a monitoring and evaluation officer in the Urban Water Sector Reform Programme of the state, told newsmen that Ekiti State had undertaken a review of the sector to upgrade its facilities.
“The state government, led by Dr Kayode Fayemi, at the inception went straight into carrying out a diagnostic review of the water sector.
“Water sector is a priority and he discovered that the essential framework were not even on ground, the legal framework and the institutional framework- this probably accounted for why there was poor service delivery before then.
“So he decided that there was need for a policy. They were able to put heads together and gave the state a water and sanitation implementation guideline.
“The draft law has undergone public hearing; first reading, second reading and public hearing so it’s going to be passed into law.
“They may be pushing other states to get a law but we, without being pushed, believed this is for development.
“In fact when you look at the budgetary allocation for 2013 on water, it’s about 128 per cent increase over that of 2012, this is telling you the seriousness of the state government.
“So with this everybody knows that this government is quite different and then we discovered that even the revenue being generated before now was not much so the state government went into metering.
“We have started doing that now, we are trying to meter our network in strategic places now and we will begin to see money being generated from this although we intend to improve on it over the years.
“What we need is sustainability to be able to sustain even the operating and maintenance cost, we should be able to generate it it’s not that the government will be doing everything for us.”
Femi added that for sustainability of operations of the water board in the state, autonomy of the agency was required to ensure effectiveness.
“The area of giving the state agency complete autonomy in the sense that whatever we generate for now we spend on operating cost and maintenance.
“But I think that we need full autonomy whereby you can hire people that you really want, technically-skilled people.
“We want to see that it is strictly adhered to so that there will not be political interference, let there be technically-skilled people, let us have the autonomy to even fire if you cannot perform.
“The government does not intend to sack anybody but at least if people are told that if they don’t perform they will be fired, they want to put in more efforts, so I think autonomy is the key.”
The Tide reports that the objective of the Ekiti Water Supply and Sanitation Policy is to improve water supply service coverage from the present 40 per cent to 60 per cent by 2014.
It also aims at extending water supply service coverage to 80 per cent of the population by 2016 and100 per cent by 2020.
For sanitation, it covers the improvement of services from the present 32 per cent to 50 per cent by 2014 and further extends it to 60 per cent by 2016; 80 per cent by 2018 and 100 per cent by 2020.
The policy goals were developed based on the state’s Development Strategy Plan 2011-2014 for Water and Sanitation.
It is done in line with the current realities in social service delivery and coherent with the National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy.

Business

Fuel Scarcity: IPMAN threatens shutdown over bridging claims

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2024

The Tide

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Depot Chairmen Forum, has exonerated its members from the current fuel scarcity in the country.

According to IPMAN, this is caused by its inability to source petroleum products.

The IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum also threatened to withdraw its services over non-payment of N200 billion bridging claims by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to its members, since 2022.

Alhaji Yahaya Alhassan, the Chairman, of the Forum said this while briefing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday.

Alhassan said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) was the sole importer of the product, but the marketers could not source products from NNPC Ltd. deport, rather from the private depots at high rate.

“We cannot buy fuel from the private depots at N950 and transport the product from Lagos to the North and other parts of the country with N2 million and still sell it at N900 or N1, 000.

“It is expedient for us to state that we are more pained by the non-availability of petroleum products in the country, which has given rise to another round of untold hardship for Nigerians.

“Contrary to claims that IPMAN members are hoarding Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as fuel, we would like to categorically state that PMS scarcity is wholly triggered by inability to get fuel from NNPC and not IPMAN,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the NNPC Ltd. Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye said the disruption was due to logistical issues which had since been resolved.

“We currently have an availability of products exceeding 1.5 billion litres, which can last for at least 30 days. Unfortunately, we experienced a three-day disruption in distribution due to logistical issues, which has since been resolved.

“However, as you know, overcoming such disruptions typically requires double the amount of time to return to normal operations.

“Some folks are taking advantage of this situation to maximise profits. Thankfully, product scarcity has been minimal lately, but these folks might be exploiting the situation for unwarranted gain,’’ Soneye said.

He however, said the lines would clear out soon.

On the non-payment of bridging claims, the IPMAN forum said it was distressed and depressed by the laidback attitude of the NMDPRA towards the survival its member’s businesses, arising from its refusal in paying the claims.

“It is with deep frustration that we have assembled here today as the IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum. It is also disheartening to note that some of our members have completely shut down businesses and retrenched employees.

“As businessmen and women, our members acquired bank loans to keep their fuel retail outlets running on a daily basis across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria in order to serve the teeming population of Nigerians,’’ Alhassan said.

He recalled that Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), at a stakeholders meeting in February mandated the NMDPRA management to clear the entire debt in 40 days.

“However, today, we have crossed the 40 days’ time lapse given to the NMDPRA to clear the debt, and it is shameful to state that only the paltry sum of N13 billion has been paid, ignoring minister’s directive.

“We are not happy with the indiscriminate increment in the issuance and renewal of Sales and Storage Licence, by the NMDPRA, and the subsequent delays in acquiring the licence, which our members are recently subjected to.

“We are also calling on President Bola Tinubu to look into this unwholesome figure which is highly detrimental to our business and reverse it forthwith, as it is bound to impact negatively on the masses.

“We are poised to take far reaching decisions that may cripple the supply and sales of petroleum products across Nigeria if our demands are not met within the shortest period of time.

“We are collectively prepared to withdraw our services, shut down every single outlet, and suspend lifting of products forthwith till our demands are fully met, and the consequences will be terrible.

“We call on our members to however remain resolute and law abiding, even as we draw close to the immediate ultimatum for our demands to be met by the NMDPRA,’’ the chairman said.

Reacting to the IPMAN’s claims, the Acting Head, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, Seiyefa Osanebi said the bridging claims payment was ongoing.

“The bridging claims payment is always an ongoing process,” she said.

Maritime

Shippers’ Council Registers 160 Port Operators

Published

6 days ago

April 29, 2024

The Tide

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) says it has registered 160 Port stakeholders into its Regulated Port Service Provider and Users platform since the initiative began in 2023.
Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr Pius Akutah, made the disclosure on the sideline of a sensitisation programme by the commission for port operators in Lagos, with the theme, “Regulated Port Service Provider and Users”.
Represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs, Chief Cajetan Agu, Akutah emphasised the significance of the programme for stakeholders.
He said the sensitisation programme was the second edition after its commencement during the last quarter of 2023.
The Secretary said the 160 registered port operators consist of agencies, terminal operators, shipping companies, individual port users as well as service providers.
“We invited the ports stakeholders for enlightening them on the processes for online registration of Regulated Port Service Provider and Users.
“We have demonstrated to them how to register and how to make payment and we were able to present before them the various categories of the registration.
“The rate of payment is also in the registration. The payment of each group depends on the operation. A shipper pays N30,000, terminal operators and shipping companies pay N300,000, truckers also pay N30,000, while some pay N50,000 and N100,000.
“The Council was able to intimate them on the benefits, because port users benefit more as we help to interface on reducing port charges from time to time”, Akutah said.
He said that there was a need to continue to work with port operators to stop delays and eliminate high costs to make the port efficient.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director, Stakeholders, Service, NSC, Mr Celestine Akujobi, said “the sensitisation exercise was important for the council to enable us bring all the port stakeholders together”.
According to him, this is to avoid challenges during the implementation of the council’s responsibilities.
“By the time we introduce sanctions on defaulters, no operators will complain that he or she is not aware of the registration.
“I’m happy with the turnout of this sensitisation. This shows that the operators are well informed of the statutory friction of the council as the port regulator.
“The final implementation will commence as soon as we discover that all the operators have keyed into the portal.
“We are engaging other ports across the country and we’re hopeful that before the last quater of 2024, the council will implement sanctions on defaulting operators”, Akujobi said.
Earlier, Vice Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwards (NAGAFF), Dr Ifeanyi Emoh, said port challenges were enormous, adding that they originated from some of the government agencies.

Emoh urged the council to look into regulating other government agencies, so that there could be a window through which they can collect port charges collectively instead of indiscriminately.

By: Chinedu Wosu