Ministry laments vandalism of water pipes in Cross River

The Cross State Ministry of Water Resources have lamented that continuous vandalism of water pipes and leakages, saying the development has denied Calabar residents access to public water supply for some months.Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Fidelis Anukwa, said the destruction of pipes constituted a major set back in the state and efforts to ensure that residents of Calabar have uninterrupted water supply, particularly during the Christmas season was being frustrated.

Anukwa, who stated this at a media briefing, said apart from vandalism of water equipment, some water pipes have also been exposed to danger due to erosion and road constructions, resulting in leakages across the state.He enjoined members of the public to report such leakages and any threats to equipment to the ministry saying, “We are trying to provide water and some people are out there frustrating our effort by destroying pipes.

“If you destroy one pipe, you never can tell how many people depend on that pipe for their water needs and so people should protect our water installations across the state. We should safeguard our facilities and where there are leakages caused by erosion, they should report to us.

“We know that due to the rapid development of Calabar metropolis, the water pipes are exposed to danger. There are leakages across the state and in some cases, people break the pipes to get water to their houses illegally, thereby getting the services free and this is not auguring well for our operation.

“We call on our people to reports these illegal activities to us as we must join hand to salvage the situation for us to enjoy good flow of water.“We are aware that because of erosion, some of the pipes have gone bad, but why would anybody destroy the pipes and other essential facilities? We have identified some of the location with leakages and are trying to rectify them.”

He appealed to consumers to pay their water bills, as the ministry was striving to build back consumers’ confidence after a long period of inactivity due to vandalism and challenges of power supply.“We spent money to produce water and if people refuse to pay their bills, how do we serve them well? We request that people pay their water bills. As we speak, there is a provision in the pipeline for consumers to use their phones to pay their bills. This is to make things easier for our people so as to avoid excuses,” he said.