Unlicensed Water Producers Risk Two Years Jail Term, RSG Warns

Rivers State Government has said that water service providers who are not licensed by the State Water Regulatory Commission were liable to two years imprisonment or a fine of N100,000 upon conviction.
In addition, defaulters would pay N5,000 daily until the person obtains the licence.
The state’s Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, Dr Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, who made this known in a meeting between the Water Regulatory Commission and the water associations in the state, directed the commission to strictly enforce the law on issuance of licenses to water service producers operating in the state.
Citing Section 140 of the Water Sector Development Law, 2012, the commissioner said no person shall operate as a service provider unless such a person acquires a license from the commission.
He said the move became necessary to safeguard the lives and health of the people in the state, adding that any compromise in the enforcement of relevant laws could lead to health hazards as the people would be at the mercy of quacks.
Gogo-Jaja further directed the commission to ensure that, water service providers cover their products from sunlight while distributing as exposure could cause cancer.
He also tasked supermarkets, kiosks and store owners to stop displaying their water under the sun because, according to him, exposure of water to sunrays elicits chemical reactions that are injurious to human organs, when consumed.
He, therefore, warned that defaulters would face appropriate sanctions.

By: Nelson Chukwudi