Delta To Develop New Water Policy

To ensure effective and efficient operation,??the Delta State Water Board,?says it will?soon develop its own water policy,?the General Manager, Mr Francis Umemezia, has said.

Speaking  in Abuja on Tuesday, Umemezia, said that the?water policy would help the state to tackle challenges the board was facing, especially in the area of revenue collection.

He said, “we have begun to develop our water policy and this will really guide our operations and the public response to what we are doing,because we have the challenge of asking people to pay for water. ‘’In Delta State, we are used to free services; people don’t see water as what they would pay for and so that it’s one of the challenges.

But we have the law that established the Urban Water Board which we are now making clear to everybody that water is supposed to be paid for and it is contained in our law. We have already commissioned an agent on revenue matters, so the issue of revenue generation awareness is being drawn to Delta people that water is supposed to be paid for,’’ he said.

According to the Commissioner, the policy?would also enable the board to improve on its production capacity and network operations and  also empower the board in the area of personnel training and recruitment  to enable the board? to actualise its goal.

“There is need for training for our field personnel on what is required, because one thing is to have a vision, another is for those connected with the vision to understand the vision in order to run with it. “A well trained and informed personnel that have good understanding of adequate data documentation and analysis, would go a long way in enhancing our productivity,’’ he said.