Date: 2018-03-21

Kwara State Water Tanker Owners Association (KWTOS) has debunked rumour that it is supplying Kwarans with contaminated water.

The association equally called on the state government to empower its members to be able to improve on service delivery and boost efficiency in their businesses. Abdulrazaq Abdullah Olanrewaju, chairman of the association, said this while speaking with BusinessDay in Ilorin, on the allegation that they distribute unclean water.

According to Olanrewaju, the association work as private entity and government, private and other people in the state transact business with them.

He said with the lingering water crisis in the state capital where they were seriously busy supplying water to people, some groups were trying to run down their business.

"We use this opportunity to reject and assure Kwarans that the water we are supplying them is not contaminated nor poisonous as alleged by some. "Our association need assistance from government. We are pleading with Kwara State government to please empower our members as they have been doing to other associations in the state.

"We need more water tankers for ease of doing our business. There are new sites now that pipes have not reached, and we are giving them water at a cheaper rates," he said.

He explained that they fill tankers with treated water, saying, "Untreated water can never be put inside tankers meant for treated water.

"You differentiate tankers through inscriptions on them. There are tankers with "Treated Water" while some have "Raw Untreated Water," raw water are not for consumption but for building, fishery or construction.

"We checkmate our members and they comply with the dos and don'ts. You can not see raw water inside tank meant for treated water," he said.

Olanrewaju, who thanked the Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, Senate president, Bukola Saraki, Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed, and speaker, Ali Ahmad for their supports, admonished Kwarans to cooperate with one another for the progress of the state.