The Federal Government has been commended over its new water policy which incorporates the stakeholders into the National Borehole Rejuvenation and Revitalisation Programme.

The policy also recognised the necessity of the code of practice for water well construction in Nigeria, approved compliance with the code in water well drilling programmes.

The National President, Association of Water Well Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners (AWDROP), Engineer Michael Ale in a statement in Ibadan on Sunday,applauded the present policy of the Federal Government on Public Private Partnership which stipulates that the State Governments should adopt the public private partnership approach for the development, operation and maintenance of water infrastructure.

The association noted that proper handling of borehole works across the country is highly desirable to ensure their sustainability while a fool-proof risk reduction mechanism is also needed to ensure the safety of Drinking Water.

To this end, AWDROP praised the Federal Government for its on-going revision of the Nigerian standard for drinking water quality while appealing to all state Ministries of Water Resources to embrace and develop a comprehensive Water Safety Plan for public water supplies and the rehabilitation of the old water works.

It noted with delight the commitment of the Federal Government towards ensuring that Nigeria attain nationwide Open Defecation Free (ODF) status by 2025 and that States, LGAs and Communities embrace the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach and commit funds towards its achievement.

On abandoned water supply projects nationwide, AWDROP commended the Federal Government for approving that a Joint Task Team comprising representatives of the Federal and State Governments including the association be set up to ascertain technical, financial and legal status possibly with the assistance of independent consultants to be hired by Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

The Task Team was to ensure that all abandoned projects in the 36 states and FCT were captured in their reports.