Green Party president Peter Sinkamba has attributed provision of poor quality water by water utilities countrywide to poor regulatory and institutional framework arising from government’s failure to enact drinking water quality guidelines and standards.

Commenting on LWSC’s distribution of contaminated water to some parts of Lusaka in a statement, Sunday, Sinkamba bemoaned continued absence of drinking water quality guidelines and standards in Zambia which he said resulted in water borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery being endemic in the country.

“You know, following the launch of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, Member States of the UN, especially those of us in the developing countries category were supposed to develop and enact guidelines for provision of quality water and sanitation services because these aspects were some of the goals intended to be achieved by 2015. However, as Zambia we have failed to do 18 years on, and this is very depressing to some of us,” Sinkamba noted.

“As the Green Party, we are extremely worried with the status quo where the country lacks an institutional and legal framework to provide adequate oversight on provision of quality water and sanitation services in the country.”

Sinkamba observed that at the moment, there were two pieces of legislation which were enacted in the 1990s but neither addressed drinking water quality guidelines and standards as well as sanitation.

“First of all we have the Waste Water Regulations of 1994 which are enforced through ZEMA. The focus for these regulations is to control pollution of surface and groundwater systems. So ZEMA provides permits for discharge of effluents and wastewater in accordance with these regulations but these are not drinking water quality standards but pollution standards,” he stated.

Sinkamba observed that although the Water Supply and Sanitation Act of 1997, which established NWASCO, empowered the institution to establish and enforce water supply and sanitation services, including establishing and enforcing drinking water quality standards and guidelines, NWASCO had failed to do so in the last 10 years.

“Sadly, the focus for NWASCO is merely issuance of licences to utilities and approval of exorbitant tariffs and other exploitative charges. And this is our point of departure,” he stated.

Sinkamba insisted that the current institutional and legal framework for provision of water and sanitation services in Zambia was archaic and required a complete overhaul to safeguard people’s lives.

“Government needs to overhaul the archaic institutional and regulatory framework for water supply and sanitations so as to sanitize the entire system. There is need for sanity in the provision of these services. NWASCO, ZEMA, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission should all be overhauled so as to safeguard and protect consumers against unhealthy and unfair trade practices in the provision of water and sanitation services,” advised Sinkamba.

Sinkamba warned that if government failed to make serious moves to modernize the regulatory and institutional framework in the water supply and sanitation sector, his party would have no option but move a private member’s motion in Parliament sometime this year with a view to sanitize the situation since 10 years of insanity in the sector is enough.