Group Managing Director, Lagos Water Corporation, Muminu Badmus, explains how the state is working hard to provide potable water to Lagos ...
Group Managing Director, Lagos Water Corporation, Muminu Badmus, explains how the state is working hard to provide potable water to Lagos residents
At has been reported that only an estimated 10% of the Lagos populace have access to water supplied by the state’s water corporation; don’t you think this may lead to water crisis in the state?
It is more than 10%. Yes it is true that there are gaps in the supply, as we are all aware that the population in Lagos is increasing every day, but the state is trying to catch up and bring the gap closer. Officially, the State is producing the designed capacity of 210 million gallons per day, when we should be supplying about 700 million. However, we have four major waterworks and 48 mini waterworks and they are producing water, but we are yet to get there. That is why the state is encouraging the corporation to do Public Private Partnership (PPP). We have 45 at Iju, four at Ota-Ikosi and another four at Ishasi. And the mini water works combined is about 100. The Odomola PPP will take about 2 years to be able to complement other ones. Presently, we’ve got approval for one PPP at Odomola, which is about 70 million gallons per day at Adiyan, in which the state is currently investing about N57 billion. The project is still ongoing and we are 70% complete as we speak. The corporation has also advertised expression of interest for another 70 million gallons per day.
We are aware of the gap and the state is working with us to bridge the gap. The state will continue to work hard to ensure that clean potable water is supplied to Lagos residents.
As a result of people’s inability to access potable water, residents are said to be drilling boreholes to get water, which is raising fears of various environmental and health issues, how does your ministry intend to curtail this?
People are drilling boreholes because of the desperation to get water, and in actual fact, borehole water is not clean water no matter how you treat it. The reason is that as you are pumping from it, some people are decommissioning their old boreholes; so a lot of garbage is going down there and another person is pumping it up. Some people are treating the water but majority are not.
On the other hand, we have a regulatory body that goes from house to house to ensure strict compliance. We have been advising residents that if they have a ‘main’ (large pipe) around their house they should inform us and we will get them connected. Also, for those people performing illegal connection of water, they should desist because they are contaminating the water.
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