Whither Cross River State Water Board Limited

By Mark Idrah 

The Cross River State Water Board Limited (CRSWBL) was incorporated in August 1998 in line with the reconstitution of the Water Division of the then Ministry of Works and Housing, through the severally amended edict No. 13 of 1975.

The Board was incorporated by the Cross River State Government to take over the responsibility of the production and supply of potable water to the urban and semi urban inhabitants of the State. With its headquarters located in Calabar the State capital, it has branches in other urban areas in four local government headquarters including Yakurr, Ikom, Ogoja and Obudu Ls.

The Company had before its incorporation, operated to a considerable degree as a government establishment. The company, having transited from a parastatal to a limited liability company, developed a new organisational structure that has the Board of Directors, headed by the Board Chairman at the apex, who ensures that the aims and objectives of the Organisation as stated in the establishing memorandum and articles of association, are achieved.

The Company (establishment) is solely owned by the Government of Cross River, who supervises and oversees its activities through the Commissioner of Water Resources.

The Company, since its incorporation, had provided and supplied quality and potable water to citizens across the urban and semi urban areas and also met its targets daily. These feats were perfectly achieved by former Governors Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke under the Chairmanship of Sen. Gershom Bassey, who supervised the company’s operations to achieve and record a high level of success. There was no time the water supplied was brown in colour, nor was there also a time the Company ran out of supply as witnessed now.

However, from 2015 when the former Governor Ben Ayade took over the reins of power, citizens started experiencing epileptic water supply, followed with a mixture of colored water. This new trend came to a point where the water finally stopped and citizens resorted to drilling personal boreholes. Those who were unable to drill theirs, buy water from commercial dealers. The premises of the Water Board, has turned out to be personal housing estate for Governor Ayade’s political appointees, associates and family members.

Cross River state now has a new Governor in the person of Sen. Prince Bassey Edet Otu.  Now the question begging for answer is, will Sen. Otu revive the State Water Board to its former glory? Or will he maintain the status quo? Don’t forget, he promised to sustain the gains of the former Governor Ayade’s administration and build on his successes.

Reacting on the incident, a resident in Ekpo Abasi axis of Calabar South, Mr. Jameson Akpan said, there had been no water supply in the area for the past four years now, adding that all the pipes and facilities are still intact but not functioning due to lack of water supply.

One Emmanuel Okay, a resident of No. 76 IBB Way, also lamented the lack of water supply in his area for about five to six years now. He said, water bills were paid at the rate of N1, 500 to N2,000 during the last administration of Governor Liyel Imoke, but that they started receiving bills amounting to N10, 000, N15, 000 and even up to N20, 000, yet they were getting epileptic water supply at some point, and then finally the supply ceased.

The Beagle news also spoke with Mrs. Mary Ukam, who recounted how she and her household depended solely on Cross River State Water Board as their only source of drinking water, but that for about four to five years now the water stopped flowing, she and her family resorted to other sources of water for drinking. According to her, this has caused several health epidemic outbreaks in her family because of the untreated water they resorted to drinking. She pleaded with the new government of Sen. Prince Bassey Otu to revive the Cross River State Water Board.