Exhibitors, experts seek ways to bridge infrastructure gaps

Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu

Experts and exhibitors at the ongoing Water Africa and West Africa Building and Construction Exhibition and Seminar have charged the Federal Government to bridge the infrastructure gaps in the water, sanitation and building sector.

They lamented the huge infrastructural decay in the sector and the challenges faced by Nigerians in accessing facilities for its development.
Managing Director, ACE Event Management, Tracy Nolan-Shaw, said this yesterday at the opening of the Water Africa International trade exhibition and seminars 2017 in Abuja.

She said the exhibition was all about water, sanitation and construction and highlighting challenges Nigerians face in rural and urban areas in an effort to proffer a lasting solution.

“The challenges of water shortage, as well as sanitation problems, which have been ignored for a long time in the country would be highlighted at the seminar,” she stated.

Through the seminar, Nolan-Shaw added that the experts would fashion out ways the country could bridge the infrastructure gap in the water, sanitation and construction within the next 20 years.

“We try to pull together the stakeholders in the industry so as to find a lasting solution to the challenges bedeviling the sector” she stated.Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, while declaring the conference and exhibition open urged for a robust collaboration between actors in the water sector to enhance development of the industry and the management of water resources.

He noted that the country had achieved 69 per cent success in water supply and 29 per cent in sanitation, adding however, that 66 million Nigerians are without access to safe water while 110 million lack access to sanitation, resulting in high child mortality rate in the country.

National Programme Coordinator of Nigerian Institute of Water Engineers (NIWE), Joshua Sanga, noted that the event has helped their members to gain more exposure and learning current and new technologies in water, sanitation, construction and housing.