Lagos partners private sector to build more water works

The Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, said on Wednesday that the state government would partner with the private sector to build more water works.
Adejare told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the private sector arrangement was in line with the state government’s Public Private Partnership.
Adejare said: “The Lagos State Government is not planning to privatise the Lagos State Water Corporation, contrary to the belief that it is partnering with a financial institution to sell the corporation.
“Rather than privatising, the state government will be partnering with the private sector to build water works under a Public Private Partnership arrangement.
“The private sector partner would build and charge reasonable amount.”
Adejare said the move became necessary as the cost of building single water works had gone up, due to the exchange rate volatility.
He said that the government had limited resources with competing needs across sectors.
He said: “We cannot afford to stick to the status-quo, as we are battling with vector-borne diseases, and we need to sort out the issue of appropriate pricing.”
The commissioner said that currently, Water Corporation charged 5k per litre, as against N100 per litre being charged by the local water vendor.
Adejare said that water supply in the state was being given a new lease of life.
He said that most of the water works such as Ishasi, Adiyan and Iju now produced and supplied uninterrupted water to Lagos residents, following the repairs and restoration of power supply to the plant.
He said that the government was finding a lasting solution to the water-billing problems.