Perm Sec Tasks Niger Delta Govs On Counterpart Funding Payment To Speed Up WASH Projects

The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Mr. Richard Pheelangwah has charged governors of the Niger Delta region to pay their counterpart funds to enable development partners drive sanitation and WASH agenda without any hitch.

Pheelangwah gave the charge during the inauguration of a 45-member task group by the Cross River State Commissioner for Water Resources, Bassey Mensah in Calabar on Thursday.

Representing the Permanent Secretary, the Deputy Director Hygiene Promotion in the ministry, Ayaba Kogbara, also called on residents of the state and the government to support civil society organisations as well as non-governmental organisations eager to implement the sanitation and WASH agenda in the state.

While describing the inauguration of the group as a step in the right direction, the Permanent Secretary stressed that projects and programmes initiated by some international communities were halted due to the failure of governments in the region to release their counterpart funds.

“There are so many benefits that we gain when we do WASH properly – better health, even better economy. This is why I am pleading with our leadership; that is where programmes like this come to the state.

For his part, the Commissioner lauded the group members drawn from ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), development partners, community-based organisations, media, people living with disabilities, and the private sector for making themselves available for the task ahead.

He charged members of the group to remember that the responsibility to oversee, guide and harmonise WASH activities in the state rest on them.

“This is in recognition of the critical importance of WASH to public health, socio-economic development, and environmental sustainability.” Mensah stated.

In his remarks, NEWSAN’s Quality Assurance Officer, Williams Ngwakwe, described STG-WASH as cornerstone that can drive inclusive and sustainable WASH implementation in Cross River State.

“We are hopeful that this task group will lead to significant progress toward achieving SDG Goal 6. The decision to establish STG-WASH arose from findings during Visioning Workshops organised by SHA under the FCDO-funded WASH Systems for Health (WS4H) programme in Cross River state,” Ngwakwe stated.