By Seun DUROJAIYE

DARIUS Ishaku, Governor of Taraba State, has passed the State Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) bill into law.

The bill, which has been delayed since October, was signed on Thursday, December 19, beating the stipulated deadline.

Social accountability non-governmental organisation, Connected Development (CODE), commended the governor for assenting the bill which stands to aid the provision of safe water and basic sanitation for residents.

Commending the efforts of the governor and Taraba State House of Assembly, Hamzat Lawal, chief executive of CODE said: “The Taraba Government, including its House of Assembly, has proven itself as the people’s parliament by rebuilding residents’ trust in government institutions to deliver improved public services.” 

CODE, with the support of the USAID Effective Water Sanitation and Hygiene (E-WASH) Services Program, had engaged with the Taraba policymakers in November, urging that they erase bottlenecks and accelerate the processes to ensure the WASH bill was signed into law.

Taraba is one of six states selected in 2018 for USAID E-WASH technical support fund, which seeks to increase access to potable water in Urban areas, Vanguard has reported.

CODE’s Lead on the USAID-EWASH project, Ijeoma Oforka also commended the progress made in Taraba and in a press statement, urged Delta and Niger States to toe the same path. 

“Delta and Niger States must fast-track actions on implementing policies that will ensure the consistent provision of clean and safe water and improve sanitation facilities for its residents,” Oforka said.

CODE believes that; “the long-term impact of a structured WASH system is the eradication of open defecation, the provision of WASH facilities in schools and strategic public spaces, the reduction of water-borne diseases, among other remarkable effects.”

Access to potable water and basic sanitation are steps that must be taken to curb open defecation and Taraba state has activated its weapon towards fighting the problem.

Recall that The ICIR in an in-depth report on the effects of open defecation on education found that schools in the Federal Capital Territory lack toilet facilities and access to water, forcing children to openly defecate and exposing them to deadly diseases.