WILKIE ASSURES OF AVAILABILITY OF POTABLE WATER IN DELTA AMID HIKE IN PRICE OF SACHET WATER

Producers of sachet water, popularly called pure water, in Delta state have been reminded that they do not enjoy monopoly of water and should not take advantage of their customers by arbitrarily increasing the price of their products.

The State Commissioner for Water Resources Development, Hon Isaac Wilkie, made the remark while reacting to the recent scarcity of sachet water in Asaba following the decision by the producers to hike the selling price.

Hon Wilkie said the hike was not justifiable because the Ministry was not aware of any extraordinary investment in sachet water production, other than the normal untreated bore hole water, which unsuspecting members of the public assumed to be pure.

The Commissioner said government would soon rehabilitate all broken down water schemes in the state, assuring that the Oborevwori administration remained a promise keeper and would ensure the availability of potable water to the people in no distant time.

On quality control and regulatory role the Commissioner said the relevant departments and agencies were in place in the Ministry to regulate the industry and test for the quality of water from privately sunk bore holes, pointing out that the safety of water for public consumption remained a priority for the Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Association of Sachet and Table Water Producers of Nigeria, Asaba chapter, Mrs Ijeoma Popo, has confirmed that the price of a set of ten bags of sachet water has increased from N2,500 to N3,500 due to the hike in the pump price of petroleum products, especially petrol and diesel.

Mrs Popo, who called for the intervention of government to save the producers from going out of business and ensure that members of the public had clean and safe water to drink, said the prevailing economic situation in the country had forced some of the producers to close shop.

She revealed that the current price could either be reviewed upward or downward depending on the exchange rate of the dollar, which she said was a major factor in the production of sachet and table water