The Permanent Secre
tary, Cross River State Ministry of Water Resources, Mrs Gloria Edem,  last Thursday attributed the slow pace of optimum water access to low cost delivery and lack of board autonomy.
Edem   made this known on the sidelines of a water reform programme in Abuja.
She explained that although the state water board was incorporated as a limited liability company and sole provider of urban water in 1998, it had yet to secure the legal teeth to operate on its own.
“We have put on the operational framework for it, but it is yet to be passed by the House of Assembly. We have engaged members of the House of Assembly and they are working assiduously to ensure the passage of the bill. “We have also in that light, engaged the political will of government to demonstrate the liability of the company to provide potable water for the entire state”, she said.
On low cost recovery, Edem said the state water service had yet to charge adequate tariffs commensurate with the services, which she noted, was one of the challenges faced by most water corporations in the country.
She noted that the lack of autonomy was making water corporations dependent on government while bureaucracies hindered efficient service delivery.
“About 50 per cent of the operational and maintenance cost of our water board is being borne by government because there is no legal autonomy.
“The financial challenges, therefore, are based on low cost recovery for the services rendered; for instance, the output of water does not equalise the input. Much capital is put into service delivery but less is being recovered and that affects the overall running costs of the company,’’ she said.
The scribe further reiterated the need to enlighten consumers on importance of patronising safe and treated water sources where available.
According to her, ‘some people may desire to continue with the spring water, the water board source from the rivers, because some of them do not understand the use of the treated pipe-borne water.
“When we use the chemical in the water, some frown at it and feel that the water is not safe, so we try to educate the consumers to accept the treated water. We need enlightenment to derive trust from the populace, especially those in the grassroots; this way, the buy-in will not be a difficult thing”.
Cross River State is one of the eight states benefiting from the National Urban Water Sector Reform Programme sponsored by the World Bank and other development agencies.
The programme aims to increase access to pipe water networks, improve reliability and financial viability of selected urban water utilities, by encouraging rehabilitation and management of water supply systems.
Kaduna, Ogun, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Bauchi are the other states operating under the scheme, to ensure improvements in water production and capacity utilisation of plants in their state water corporations.