Some residents of Abuja suburbs on Monday urged Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Water Board to improve its water supply so as enhance the residents’ access to safe drinking water.
The residents told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Abuja that people living in the satellite towns of Abuja had no access to potable water and good sanitation facilities.
Mrs Joy Afolabi, a resident of Zuba, said that she used to buy a 20-litre-jerrycan of water at the cost of N70 from water vendors in her neighbourhood.
“These water vendors are really helping us to get drinkable water because they buy it from water tankers and store it in their tanks before selling it to us,’’ she said.
Afolabi, however, appealed to the FCT Water Board to improve on its services by extending water pipelines to the Zuba area.
Mrs Halima Muhammed, a resident of Deidei, said that the residents of her area depended on water from boreholes for drinking and other domestic uses.
Muhammed, who said that water was life, said that life in Deidei would have been extremely difficult for the residents if some individuals had not engaged in the borehole business in the area.
“Presently, we are still experiencing long queues before we can fetch water from nearby boreholes; that is why we are calling on the FCT Water Board to do something about the availability of water,’’ she said.
Mr Ifeanyi Okechukwu, a resident of Area One, Abuja city-centre, underscored the need for FCT Water Board to improve on its water supply services, particularly in those areas of the city that were facing water supply challenges.
Okechukwu recalled that Nigeria was one of the 122 countries that signed the UN Resolution on the people’s right to water on July 28, 2010.
He urged the FCT Administration (FCTA) to domesticate the policy with regard to its water supply and sanitation responsibilities.
“We expect the FCTA, particularly FCT Water Board, to accord the highest priority to the provision of improved water and sanitation services to the people,’’ Okechukwu added. (NAN)