By Jumai Nwachukwu
IN a bid to improve the supply of potable water to Deltans, the state Ministry of Water Resources Development conducted a training session for its staff and other stakeholders on the development of action plans for policy, institutional and regulatory reforms of its Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Program.
The three-day workshop, flagged-off by the Commissioner for Water Resources Development, Dr Isaac Wilkie, took place at the Prof Chike Edozien Secretariat.
According to Dr Wilkie, the workshop was necessary to develop strategies to ensure long-term sustainability in the delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, to address both operational and financial sustainability and also to asses existing policies and regulatory frameworks in the WASH sector and propose recommendations for improvements or new policies to facilitate better governance and service delivery.
The Commissioner also used the opportunity to commend Governor Sheriff Oborevwori for his immense support to the ministry to ensure that Deltans had access to potable water, while calling on the participants to apply the knowledge gathered from the workshop in improving service delivery to Deltans.
In his remarks, the lead resource person and Managing Partner, Mangrove and Partners Limited, Mr Timeyin Uwejamomere thanked, the commissioner for organising the workshop for stakeholders stating that the expected outcomes from the workshop would have a significant impact on the water sector.
The workshop covered eight reform components such as Urban Sanitation Policy; State-level Standards and Regulations for Urban Sanitation; Water Safety Plan; Inclusive Tariff Policy for Urban Water Supply; Regulatory functions and Framework for Water Sanitation; Performance Contracts and Financing Agreements; Gender Mainstreaming in HR Policies and Young Professional Program in WASH.
Notable participants at the workshop include the Acting Permanent Secretary of the ministry, heads of parastatals under the ministry, representatives from the civil service commission, the office of the Secretary to the State Government and civil societies.
