LAGOS — IN ORDER to ensure effective and sufficient water supply in Lagos State, a sum between $1.8 billion to $5.2 billion is needed even as the Lagos State Government announced its readiness to privatise the State Water Corporation (LSWC).
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, an increase from the present 40 per cent water supply in the state is expected to hit 100 per cent in the year 2020, which is put at 2,000 million litres, and the enormous cost made it imperative for the private sector participation.
Making these known to newsmen in Lagos yesterday, the Group Managing Director/CEO, Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC), Mr. Olumuyiwa Coker, said a new Bill guiding water sector in Lagos State has been passed while Governor Bola Tinubu has signed it into law.
The law, entitled: "A law to provide for the Lagos State Water Corporation and for connected matters," provides for: A governing board of the Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC) which is expected to function through four main committees, namely: Procurement and Evaluation (PEC); Budget; Audit and Finance and Account Review (AFARCOM) and Environment, Human Resources and Safety (SHE) committee.
The functions of the commission, as explained by Coker are to ensure primarily that water and sewerage functions are properly carried out in the state to enable "operators in the sector secure reasonable returns on their capital to finance the proper carrying out of those functions."
Apart from regulating the production of distribution, supply and use of water, the commission will also "regulate fees, prices and charges for or in respect of prescribed goods and services supplied by or within the water sector." It may also grant or refuse applications for the issue of licences authorising the provision of prescribed services in the sector.
His words: "With the promulgation of this law, the Lagos State Water Corporation Law Cap. L55 2003, Laws of Lagos State is repealed and we are now set to meet the challenges of actualising His Excellency’s vision of 'providing potable water for all' in a mega city that by 2010 will rank third in the world after Tokyo and Bombay.
"Without compromising the public interest, I make bold to say that what we have achieved is a unique model of private sector participation in a public utility consistent with our environment and culture that no doubt other developing countries will be all too glad to emulate."
The law, as he explained, makes comprehensive provision of waste water and sewerage services in the state, empowering the corporation to provide, improve and extend a system of public sewers. It also deals with cleansing and maintenance of those sewers to ensure that the area is and continues to be drained.
It will also make provision for the emptying of those sewers by means of sewerage disposal works or otherwise as well as provide for the emptying of on-site sewage collection system, whether such systems are inside its area or elsewhere.
He added: "It was obvious to us right from the beginning that, no matter the extent of its re-engineering, the LSWC alone cannot cope with the immense challenges of water supply in Lagos State. Our present level of water supply, for instance, meets approximately 40 per cent of the total demand in Lagos State. This demand is projected to double by the year 2020 to 2,000 million litres given the present estimated growth rate of 4% annually. Consequently we must immediately begin to put processes in place to arrest this dire situation.
The financial outlay to meet this expansion in output is estimated at between $1.8 billion to $2.5 billion, an amount that can obviously not be met by the public sector alone.
