Commissioner for Water Resources, Hon. Usman Yunusa Lade, has called for collaboration between the Ministry and the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS), in a bid to improve and increase the revenue drive of the state.
The Commissioner made the call at a meeting with the Executive Chairman of the Revenue Agency, Mrs. Shade Omoniyi, and her team, held at the conference room of the Ministry.
Lade opined that revenue generation is crucial for the state government to be able to carry out its enormous responsibilities of meeting the yearnings and aspirations of the people, stressing that federal allocation is grossly becoming inadequate.
The Ministry, he said, had met with the Fish Farmers Association and pure and table water producers, with the aim of providing accurate data on members, to allow the state make necessary policies that would be beneficial to all.
The Commissioner explained further that the state government will consider other alternative means of using solar energy, to power some of its Waterworks to alleviate incessant power outages disrupting water supply and operations.
Lade disclosed that the state government is considering the possibility of designing a template to regulate the indiscriminate drilling of boreholes across the state, which pose some dangers on the environment, pointing out that with regular water supply, people will be willing to pay for the service.
In her welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Christiana Asonibare expressed delight for the maiden meeting, which she said, will help to improve revenue generation for the state.
According to her, the collaboration between the Ministry and KWIRS will go a long way to harness the available avenues to boost the economy of the state.
Earlier, the Executive Chairman of KWIRS, Mrs. Shade Omoniyi described the appointment of the Commissioner as a round peg in a round hole, considering his track records, especially during the State Assembly interaction as a Commissioner nominee.
The Chairman said that water is essential to life, assuring that everything humanly possible would be done to ensure regular supply of potable water to the people.
Mrs. Omoniyi reiterated that her agency has done a lot in the area of revenue generation, adding that many things still needed to be done to retrieve the huge debt the state is being owed in providing water to the populace.
She acknowledged that the state government, under the leadership of Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has injected millions of naira into the water sector since he came on board, while revenue generation from the sector does not commensurate with the quantum of water supply.
She, however, appealed to the Ministry to synergise with the state revenue agency to achieve the set objectives of the revenue target for the state.
