RSG Assures Completion Of PH, Obio/Akpor Water Project

The Rivers State Government has assured residents of Port Harcourt City and environs that the Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor water project, recently, awarded by the administration was on course.
The state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, said this at the 2021 World Water Day celebration in Port Harcourt, last Monday.
Represented by the Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, Dr Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, the governor said that the project was in line with his administration’s commitment to deliver potable drinking water to Rivers people.
Speaking in his capacity as Commissioner, Gogo-Jaja said his ministry was collaborating with all relevant federal agencies such as the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to ensure standardization in water production in the state.
The commissioner also debunked insinuations that the governor was only focusing on the construction of roads and bridges, adding that Wike has touched every sector of the state including the water sector.
According to him, “the theme for the 2021 celebration is ‘Valuing Water’, and is incompliance with the recommendations of the declaration which allows states/organizations to denote notable activities to observe the day, the Rivers State Government, through our ministry, has carried out a week-long activities to sensitise and promote public awareness centred on the development of the resources by the administration of the Governor of Rivers State.
“The activities were also geared towards creating awareness and sensitizing the people on the role and obligations of stakeholders in the water sector”, he added.
He also decried the unwholesome activities of water producers in the state, stressing that some of the producers engage in unprofessional practices to serve water to the public that endanger public health.
Gogo-Jaja further called on the international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the state to assist the government with the provision of water treatment plants across the state.
Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion, Chief O.C.J. Okocha described water as an integral part of life.
“If there is no water, life cannot emerge. Water is important but we should talk about potable water”.
The elder states man who regretted that most people now depend on borehole said the situation must be check in order to avoid the continuous transmission of waterborne diseases.