Establishment Of Water Courts Are Gross Violation of People’s Right to Life, ERA Tells LASG

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has described Lagos State government’s establishment of special courts to prosecute individuals it ascribed to as illegal water service providers as a gross violation of right to life and attempt to pave way for water privatization.

ERA/FoEN reacting in a release issued on Tuesday over statements made by Dr. Babatunde Adejare, commissioner for environment, who was represented by Babatunde Hunpe, special adviser to the Governor Ambode on Environment, at a two-day retreat organised for officials of the water sector, which had as theme: ‘Towards achieving a safe and sustainable water sector in Lagos State’ said establishments  of the water courts is  unacceptable and illegal

ERA/FoEN Deputy Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “We find this development totally absurd. Criminalizing the right of people to source for water when government has consistently failed to live up to its responsibility is simply scape-goating and passing the buck. There is no edict existing or in the works that allows any state government to set up a court for punishing anyone who has decided to provide water to his neighbor free”

“In the layman’s understanding, what this means is that anybody in our communities that carries a jerry-can of water from one house to the other is going to be accused of violating the law and sent to jail. This is absolutely disturbing”

Oluwafemi frowned at references to already budgeted and appropriated funds to the LSWC as bail out, insisting that Adejare’s description of appropriated funds as rescue connotes that the state government has converted the Corporation into a private enterprise whose statutory due in the state budget is now called bail-out.

The ERA/FoEN boss pointed out that it is offensive that the Lagos State government is using its resources to establish a “special court,” round up people attempting to provide people with an essential human need, and prosecute them, even as he added that Lagosians are not the problem that need to be solved.

“The proper move for the state government would be to require invest financial resources in strengthening the public water system so more people have access to water. After all, of what use is government if it is not protecting basic human rights, like water? What Adejare calls an undesirable “bail-out” is in fact the proper role and responsibility of government.”

He stressed that the Our Water, Our Right Campaigners who have staged various protests across the state to reject water privatization reject the water courts and still remain resolute in rejecting all forms of water privatization, semi-water privatization or so called Public Private Partnerships.

“What Lagos residents have consistently asked for and will not negotiate is informed and active participation in developing plans to achieve universal access to clean water. The solution remains within the realm of public control. We are unequivocal that the so-called water courts are a gross violation of our right to life”, he insisted.

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