Give Us Drinking Water, Bayelsans Beg Diri

Bayelsans have pleaded with the prosperity government of Governor Douye Diri to as a matter of urgency, provide potable water for her citizens.
They made the plea recently, when members of the Federated Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists went round Yenagoa metropolis to feel the pulse of the people.
The Douye Diri administration had governed for four years without providing potable water for Yenagoa residents but in his second term inauguration speech, hinted that he will provide potable water for Bayelsans.
Diri said: “Pivotal in our second tenure will be to address potable water distribution challenges via a comprehensive approach that focuses on efficient utilization and equitable access to this precious utility. We will thus, invest in water production and reticulation, particularly within the state capital.
But from 2021 to 2023, the annual budgets to provide potable water in the metropolis were put at N600 million for 2021, N248,675,727 for 2022, while the 2023 budget had N1,441,938,082 provision for water whereas, there is currently no pipe borne water in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Preye Thompson living along Osiri road, pleaded with the government to provide potable water to the residents to ease the hardship associated with lack of water.
He said, “Please let the government provide potable water for us. People are digging borehole in their houses while those that can’t afford it are buying a can of water from water vendors for N70 while some are selling at N100.
Another resident, Madam Joy Owei living at Down Yenagoa also pleaded with the government to make potable water available to reduce suffering.
“Let the government give us water. We are suffering too much because of water. Things are also very expensive. So if we have water now, it will help us to do our house chores”, she pleaded.
Yenagoa residents rely mainly on sachet water (pure water) for drinking and that costs from N350-N500 a bag with some families using as much as two bags daily while smaller sized families use a bag for two days.
A staff of the state Water Board who pleaded anonymity, revealed that they were buying water from local suppliers, ‘Abokis’ before a bore hole was recently installed in the premises.
She attributed the non availability of potable water for Yenagoa residents to lack of funds, explaining. “There is no money to do anything,” she said.
All calls put across to Mr Fredrick Suku-Ogbari, the General Manager of the Water Board to comment on the issue were not responded to. Also, a text message sent to his phone was not responded to.