Calabar – The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has called on the Cross River State Government to speed up payment of its counterpart funds to scale up sanitation and hygiene in the state.
The Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation with the Ministry, Mr Emmanuel Awe, made the call in Calabar on Tuesday.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Awe was in the state to pay an advocacy visit on Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (RUSHPIN) Programme.
Awe said the aim of the visit was to evaluate the programme implementation and asses how it could be improved upon to impact on lives of citizens of the state.
He said the state could climb the sanitation ladder when it pays its counterpart fund, which was agreed upon in 2014.
Awe said since the inception of the programme, there was hope that three Local Government Areas would have been Open Defecation Free, saying the Federal Government was optimistic.
He said there was need for behavioural change in attitudes and practices, adding that people must be aware of the importance of constructing and using their toilets.
“When the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) RUSHPIN’s Memorandum of Understanding was signed, all the tiers of government had their parts to play.
“Unfortunately, the marching funds for adding three more LGAs have not been provided, we are calling on the state government to make this fund available,” Awe said.
The director said although a lot of people in the three local government areas were now aware of the dangers of defecating in the open, more needed to be achieved towards ending open defecation in the state.
“We are aware that a lot of communities are now informed about the importance of building and using their toilets, so it is commendable, however, much more can be achieved,” Awe said.
Mr Ita Ikpeme, Director General, Cross River Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, said the state was doing its best to see that more people had access to water and sanitation.
He said the ministry had got an approval from the state governor for the release of the funds, saying it would be available before the end of August.
Mr Tim Connel, Country Director of Concern Universal, Executing Agency of RUSHPIN Programme, called for reinforced and strengthened collaboration to scale up progress made so far on the programme.
Connel said Community Led Total Sanitation idea, which targeted behavioral change was a great step towards reducing the menace of open defecation and scaling up hygiene.
He called for continuous learning and sharing among communities already open defecation free, saying this would go a long way towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals on Sanitation and hygiene.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in June 2014, Nigeria benefitted from the GSF 5 million USDdollars to meet the sanitation and hygiene challenges in Benue and Cross River States.
The RUSHPIN is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and the Global Sanitation Fund, the grant giving body of the UN Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.
The innovation sees international funding matched by national, regional and local funding, setting a framework for replication to achieve the national target of ending open defecation in Nigeria by 2025. (NAN)