Enugu State government has given the last warning to tanker drivers over their failure to colour-coat their vehicles to indicate if they are carrying clean, safe-drinking water or industrial water in line with the Enugu State Water Sector Law of 2023.
The government said the timeline and extension date set for the implementation of the law elapsed last month.
At a meeting with the leadership of tanker drivers in Enugu over the weekend, the secretary to the state government (SSG), Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said the government was committed to protecting members of the public against exploitation by some dubious tanker drivers who fetch unclean water from unhealthy environment and sell to residents as safe-drinking water.
He added that the state had constituted a taskforce that would from time-to-time stop and inspect water being conveyed by the tanker drivers.
While reading the Riot Act to the association of tanker drivers in the state against the backdrop of consistent damage and sabotage of water facilities in the state and the severe punishment awaiting erring drivers, the SSG said despite efforts by the Governor Peter Mbah administration to make water available to the capital city which is already successful with its extension capacity cutting across sub-urban areas, the state government had no intention of running tanker drivers out of their livelihoods as they could still be creative in their approach.
Onyia said the water law prescribes that every water tanker must bear either sky-blue colour to reflect clean drinking water or yellow colour to reflect industrial water.
He described as unacceptable a situation where drivers sell industrial water fetched from streams as borehole water from the Ninth Mile, warning that drivers not only risked having their tankers confiscated but also the arrest and prosecution of offenders.
“One of the provisions of the water law has to do with the colour-coating of your tankers to reflect who’s carrying drinking water and who’s carrying industrial water. It is important because some tanker drivers fetch water from anywhere and sell to people as drinking water and these are families and people’s children drinking the water.
“The governor will not condone that anymore. We will not. We know how to check for this. There’s going to be an enforcement team that has the backing of the Ministry of Water Resources that will randomly stop tankers after you must have colour-coated the tanks in line with the law to check the quality of the water. So, the sky-blue colour for drinking water with a bold inscription, “Drinking Water Supply” written on it. And the yellow colour for industrial water with a bold inscription showing it’s industrial water,” he added.
Onyia, who was flanked by the commissioner for water resources, Dr. Felix Nnamani, said enough time had been given to tanker drivers to repaint their tankers, explaining that the policy was to protect members of the public against gross exploitation and unsafe water capable of causing water-borne disease.