Why scarcity of potable water persists in Lokoja.

(c).Water genesis Tec.
,,,,Residents express fear, stress timely solution.
By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
Unless kogi state government and other stakeholders in the distribution of potable water to residents of Lokoja and its environs take urgent steps to arrest the disturbing trend, the problem may persist for long.
Some residents of the state capital expressed this concern in separate interview with our correspondent on the issue in Lokoja on Friday.
They described a situation whereby Lokoja, with abundant water resources,continued to experience scarcity of potable for about a month, running, as not a good development.
Messrs Micheal Johnson, Ismaila Mohammed, James Isezuo, Karim Mohamed among others, noted that they had not had drinkable water from the State Water Board for the past one month, adding that when the problem would come to an end remained a mirage.
” Whatever may the problem hindering efforts at finding lasting solution to this serious issue, I passionately appeal to the state government to do all within its power to restore potable in Lokoja and its environs.
“We may be comfortable with power outage, but this is not so with scarcity of potable water, in view of its implication to public health, social and economic life of the people,” Mohammed said.
Finding by our correspondent showed that the scarcity is not that of the equipment perse as earlier thought, but basically, fund .
A reliable source in the State Water Board, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity on Friday in Lokoja, squared paucity of fund and bureaucratic bottleneck as the two major factors responsible for the problem.
He added that these had posed a big cog in the wheel progress of the board to buy chemicals for the treatment of water and meet other logistics to supply water to the residents.
“From my experience and observation, the machine we have in the board can treat and pump water to the public and for the next 25 years without recourse for repair,”he said.
He also traced the problem to the lackadaisical attitude of most members of the public towards payment of water bill.
According to him, when the Lokoja Greater Work machine was installed, during the administration of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, the government then sort of creating the impression that the supply of potable water would be free of charge.
“Most members of the public now imbibe this belief and refuse to pay water bill to enable the board generate adequate money to operate effectively.
“The refusal of many water consumers to pay their bill and dwindling revenue from the government created the dilemma we are facing in the board now,” the source further explained.
The source expressed concern that the though the board needs about N25/30 million as monthly subvention to perform efficiently and effectively, it hardly gets one quarter of the amount monthly to operate.
He argued that even if the supply of potable was done free in the past, such magnanimity could not be sustained any more because of the scarcity of financial resources at the disposal of the government,coupled with many programmes competing for government demand.
He, however, appealed to Governor Yahaya Bello to solve the problem before January 27,2024 when he will hand over the mantle of leadership to the governor-elect,AlhajibAhmed Usman Ododo,as a parting gift to kogites and for remembrance.
However, some members of the public also argued that they could not have been paying for the water not supplied for one month running.
The source, however,said that the board was not resting on its oars to solve the problem as it had intensified all efforts to explore all avenues, including memos to the appropriate authorities in that regard.
“The board needs sustained prayer of the public to find lasting solution to this lingering, yet serious problem.
Our correspondent recalls that Lokoja began to experience water scarcity close to one month now.
The General Manager, Kogi State Water Board, Engr. Mohammed Sagir, in a statement at the start of the problem, traced the problem to voltage drop in the power supply and promised that efforts were on to solve the problem.
Meanwhile, many resident said they had resorted to consuming water from River Niger, wells and streams as they could not longer get drinkable water to use, not minding the health implication.
The Reporters’finding also revealed that the scarcity of the commodity has started having telling effects on the social and commercial life of the people of Lokoja.
Many restaurant,hotel and other recreational owners in Lokoja told our correspondent that they found it difficult to operate their businesses effectively without adequate potable water.
“I have to fall back to the use of pure water and patronizing water vendors in running my business with additional cost to my production expenses and dwindling profit,” a restaurant operator, who wants to be known simply as Martins, told The Reporters.
He also called on the state government to do the needful and timely too, in finding lasting solution to the nagging problem.