By Alfred Kollie alfredkollie@gmail.com
A member of a Civil Society coalition on water, sanitation and Hygiene Timothy Kpeh has said the “Pro- poor” agenda of President George Weah will fail, if it does not meet the needs of citizens in the area of water, sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Liberia.
Timothy Kpeh National Executive Director United Youth for Peace, Education, Transparency and Development said the issue of water, sanitation and hygiene is an important area of life that needs serious attention by the CDC led- government in the country.
According to him, since the establishment of the Wash Commission in the country nothing has been done to improve the sector, especially with the absence of the Wash Commissioners.
‘’Right now there is no ownership, people are not paying serious attention most especially those government ministries and agencies due to the absence of its Commissioners’’ Kpeh noted.
In 2012, the Act calling for the establishment of the WASH Commission was introduced in the House of Representatives by Montserrado County district five Representative Thomas P. Fallah and Representative Munah Pelham Youngblood of district nine of Montserrado County.
Kpeh said the issue of water; sanitation and hygiene continue to remain big problems for the country with officials not given it attention in the country.
Kpeh is meanwhile appealing to President George Weah to speedily appoint the Wash Commissioner that will lead the Wash Commission established under the leadership of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
‘’This is a pro -poor government and every actions of this government should speak to the poor people we are talking about people that live in the slum communities, we are not talking about ministers, directors who can afford water on their own,’’ Kpeh explained.
According to Kpeh,’’the delay in the appointment of WHSH Commissioners is slowing down activities of the Commission in the country.’’
In an interview over the weekend, Mr. Kpeh said the appointment of the Commissioners will help with the smooth operation and implementation its projects across the country.
Sometime ago, dozens of civil society groups, development partners and former government official of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf government under what was called WASH Compact, proposed and campaigned for the establishment of a stand-alone body to govern the water and sanitation sector in the country.
That prompted the Liberian Legislature to pass into law the Water and Sanitation Commission on Liberia August 30, 2017.