-Clean drinking water essential-PS

Clean drinking water essential-PS

Ndola, April 17, 2013, ZANIS – Government says it is committed to the provision of clean drinking water and good sanitation because of its importance to health.

Copperbelt permanent secretary Stanford Msichili said this when he officially opened a stakeholder’s consultative meeting on the development of the national water supply and sanitation policy at Savoy hotel in Ndola today.

Mr Msichili noted that there has been a tendency to concentrate on water supply and a complete exclusion of sanitation.

Mr Msichili explained that the two are inter- related and called on the participants to address them equally.

He said water is not only a source of life but is a catalyst of economic development adding that there should be a co-ordinated developmental approach.

He said it is not good for housing development to take place without providing water and sanitation services.

Mr Msichili said it was however common to find pit latrines close to water wells which he termed as a recipe for outbreak of diseases.

Mr Msichili said financing arrangements must be put in place to take into account the ability to pay for such services especially among the disadvantaged members of the community.

He noted that this called for a closer relationship by all service providers adding that in some cases cost sharing must be considered.

The permanent secretary said the purpose of the consultative meeting is to facilitate stakeholder’s input into the formulation of the national water supply and sanitation policy that will provide a clear guideline to all stakeholders in the sub-sector.