From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Lokoja and Idah have commended some lawmakers in Kogi for quality representation.
The groups also advocated for closer relationship between the elected representatives and Kogi citizens.
This was contained in the sensitization message of the groups during a one day sensitization town hall meeting organized for key community leaders and citizens drawn form Idah, Ejule, Anyigba, Ankpa and Agaliga in kogi east senatorial district, held at M&G Hotel in Anyigba.
The sensitization meeting was part of JDPC Lokoja and Idah Legislative Advocacy Projects being implemented since 2016.
The project officer, Success Adejoh Sunday who delivered key note address on behalf of the project coordinator Rev Fr Augustine Okafor said that the aim of the project was to bridge communication gap between the people and elected representatives through active constituency offices and periodic town hall meetings and to advocate for improved access to portable water in kogi state.
He stated that despite the natural blessings of rivers Niger and Benue in kogi state, access to portable water remains a great challenge in several communities.
Some of the community representatives present at the event thanked JDPC for her efforts and recounted that the advocacy projects have really touched lives in the communities as it has attracted interventions of the duty bearers in their communities especially in the area of water provision.
Participants from Anyigba however lamented that the government owned central water facility in Anyigba is currently not working. As a result the people in the area go through severe hardship to access portable water.
On sanitation it was stated that the level of indiscriminate refuse dump in Anyigba community is very high and called on Dekina local government authority to take urgent steps in this direction.
In Agaliga community It was stated that only one borehole provided by the local government council in 2019 was the only source of portable water in the community at the moment which is highly inadequate.
In Ejule, Idah and Ankpa communities, community representatives from the areas thanked their elected representatives for providing them with boreholes and promised to takes steps towards maintaining the facilities.