Table Water Producers Lament Imposition Of Levies

Table water producers in Rivers State have lamented the imposition of special levy by the the Bayelsa State Government on water coming into the state from Rivers State.
Chairman of the Association of Table Waters Producers of Nigeria (ATWAP), Rivers State, Mr. Eyberi Odiri Mackson who said this in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt claimed that the Bayelsa State Government has imposed a levy of N200 per bag of water coming into the state from Rivers State.
He also claimed that members can nolonger assess Okarki, a community in Ahoada West Local Government Area to supply water to them.
“We can nolonger access Okarki and other communities within the area to supply water to them, while water from Bayelsa State is now flooding Omoku Mbiama and Ahoada”.
He said that the association has already petitioned the Bayelsa State Government and the State House of Assembly on the issue, while the Rivers State Government has also been notified on the issue.
He said that time has come for the Rivers State Government to look into the matter with a view to ensuring that the association gets water across to Okarki and other communities in Ahoada West Local Government Area which are part of Rivers State.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mackson has alleged that the involvement of foreigners in the waters sector of the country is capable of denying millions of employment opportunities in the sector.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt, he also said the situation has put the lives of Nigerian at risk.
He said the situation has underscored the need for government to implement the local content policy in the water sector.
The ATWAP chairman said that Nigerians have the capacity to produce water for the country’s teeming population.
He also said that the association has organized series of trainings for its members with a view to improving their capacities.
ATWAP he said is also worried over the proliferation of illegal water factories across the state, stressing that they are already collaborating with the security agencies to shut down these illegal factories.